A Moutere man who threatened to blow up a bakery, because he wanted a pie and there were none in the warmer, gave Judge William Hastings two thumbs-up after being sentenced to five months' home detention.

Two weeks earlier Sefton Proctor, 20, was found by police hiding in bush on the Takaka hill, having escaped custody on suspicion of shoplifting charges.

Proctor, who takes medication for ADHD, admitted four charges in the Nelson District Court yesterday, through his lawyer Mark Dollimore, including robbery, shoplifting, intentional damage and escaping police.

Mr Dollimore said Proctor ran from police after they apprehended him with a bottle of eau de toilette he had lifted from Unichem Motueka on June 18, because he was frightened he would be locked up.

Proctor, who's relatively well known in Motueka, partly because of his 2.08-metre-tall stature, went to Joyannes Bakery on High St on the afternoon of July 2.

He threatened to destroy and "blow up" the shop because its owner would not give him a pie, Judge Hastings said.

Proctor then stole a bottle of V energy drink and left the store, leaving its owner intimidated and shaken up.

Mr Dollimore told the court that Proctor, and his parents had an arrangement with the bakery owner, that he would sometimes be given food without charge, and his whanau would settle the account later.

He said Proctor was in the mindset that he could get a free pie, and return to pay for it later.

On this occasion his client got "wound up", Mr Dollimore said. He said Proctor was sensitive to the fact that he scared the "small Asian lady who owns the bakery", and had tried to return to apologise to her the following day, but was arrested.

On July 15, Proctor was in custody in the Nelson police station when he kicked and smashed a safety glass cell window, because he was angry he was not allowed to smoke a cigarette, the court was told.

Judge Hastings accepted that Proctor had immediately apologised to police for breaking the glass.

He said Proctor posed a high risk of re-offending due to his attention deficit disorder, his prior conviction history, and his perceived lack of understanding of the long term consequences of his actions.

In 2010, Proctor bolted from police while being escorted between the Nelson courthouse and the Nelson police station cells, to appear on an assault charge.

He was later found by police at his Motueka home.

His mother, Kiri Proctor, told the Nelson Mail then that her son had the intellectual capacity of a seven-year-old.

Judge Hastings sentenced him to five months' home detention, and ordered him to complete a tiakanga Maori rehabilitation programme. He made reparation orders of $38.99 for the perfume, $4.20 for the V, and $400 for the window.