A MAN threatened to set fire to the Son Llatzer hospital in Palma after hearing he was going to lose custody rights to his new-born daughter.

He barricaded himself in a room in the hospital’s maternity wing last Friday with a Policia Nacional negotiator brought in to try and calm him down.

The man- aged in his forties- has been charged with making threats and resisting the police.

The incident began at around 1.20pm after he was told he would lose custody of the baby- born the previous day- due to ‘serious matters’.

He lost his temper and blocked the door of a room from inside and shouted that he was going to burn down the maternity unit and set fire to himself.

The Policia Nacional were called and though he had no firearms or materials to start a blaze, officers were concerned that he could still make some kind of improvised weapon.

The stand-off lasted for 45 minutes before he opened the door and was arrested after changing his mind and trying to get back into the room with officers having to pounce on him.

He was released after appearing before a Palma court on Sunday, but his bail conditions mean that he cannot approach his daughter or enter the Son Llatzer hospital.

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