Zachary John Froome, 23, has what was described in court on Tuesday as an "unenviable" and "significant" criminal history.

The self-employed labourer's previous crimes include harassing a teenage girl with vile abuse, calling her a "filthy Jew" and describing himself as "a pure white blood".

Behind bars on remand in relation to three separate series of charges, he fronted the ACT Magistrates Court via video link to apply for bail on Tuesday afternoon.

Among the charges was one of property damage, to which he has pleaded guilty.

Court documents show he committed the offence at Canberra Hospital on November 3 last year, not long after he had been treated for a drug overdose and discharged.

Froome marched in and out of the foyer and repeatedly abused security staff, who then spotted him wielding a metal hammer in the car park outside the emergency department.

The documents reveal Froome whacked the emergency department window with the weapon, but did not cause any damage.

He then belted a bin with it, before "smashing" a wall several times and "causing the bricks to shatter and fall to the ground".

Froome then approached security staff in the ambulance bay and said words to the effect of: "I'm going to rip your f---ing head off and shove it up his arse."

Once he had dropped the hammer, he was sedated with ketamine.

Froome has also pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of driving while suspended.

He is fighting further charges, including one of threatening to kill a woman who had refused to let him continue driving her car after he apparently told her he had been chased by police the previous night.

Police documents tendered in court show Froome allegedly did this in April, when the woman told officers he had threatened to "just burn the c---" if he could not drive it.

He also allegedly told the woman he would "shoot [her] through the window" and showed her a photo of a shotgun.

"If I am going to jail, I am going out in a big way," Froome allegedly said. "You will be taking your last breath today."

Froome's Legal Aid lawyer, Ellie Wallis, on Tuesday told the court the man's primary "risk factors" were mental health issues and illicit drug use.

She said he had "made improvements" in terms of both while on remand for about two months during his latest stint in the Alexander Maconochie Centre, and he could avoid reoffending if he stayed off drugs and continued engaging with the right services.

Ms Wallis told the court Froome had shown "a genuine commitment to his rehabilitation".

But a prosecutor, opposing bail, argued the 23-year-old had demonstrated in the past that he was incapable of complying with court orders and bail conditions would be "meaningless" to him.

She said the woman Froome allegedly threatened to shoot had expressed serious fears for her safety.

Magistrate James Stewart called the hammer incident "bizarre" and said the more recent allegations were of "great concern".

He acknowledged there were risks, but said these could be "outweighed" by a strict series of 20 bail conditions.

Mr Stewart warned Froome that with his history, any breaches of bail would almost certainly result in him being remanded in custody again.

Froome replied: "Thank you for the chance."

He is due in court again on July 6.

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