A Canberra man who wielded a hammer and used it to hit things on Bunda Street later told police he had wanted to "hurt someone", a court has heard.
Police had been called to Civic on October 5, 2016, following reports of an aggressive man threatening the public.
The incident happened at about 10am, and the man was arrested that day. When officers searched the man they also found a knife in his backpack.
On Thursday, the 43-year-old faced a sentencing hearing in the ACT Magistrates Court. He had been in custody since October, and faced sentencing after pleading guilty to two charges, of possessing an offensive weapon with intent and possessing a knife in a public place.
The prosecutor called for a sentence of imprisonment. She said an aggravating circumstance of the offence was that it had happened in a "crowded place within the heart of Canberra".
She said his criminal history, while sparse, had entries relating to violence, as well as a conviction in 2009 for another offence in which he was caught with a knife in Civic.
The man's Legal Aid defence solicitor told the court he spoke very little English, and his time in jail had been an isolating experience. She said it also meant he was unable to complete educational programs while in the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
She said he had benefited from an imposed abstinence from heroin, and his mental health had improved. But she added the prison was not a rehabilitation facility, and argued for his continued treatment in the community.
Magistrate Robert Cook sentenced the man, who heard Thursday's proceedings through a Vietnamese interpreter, to three and two months in prison for the two offences, backdated to November, and to be served concurrently.
It meant he was released on Thursday.
The magistrate also imposed 100 hours of community service, and two 12-month good behaviour orders to be served at the same time.