AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has been sentenced to eight months home detention in New Zealand for threatening to kill and for drugs offences.  

He pleaded guilty to the charges at a hearing in April.

The prosecution asked for a minimum jail term of 18 months.

Instead he was sentenced to eight months home detention.

Rudd was accused of threatening an employee involved in the launch of his solo album which hadn't gone well.

The judge accepted that Rudd had since made amends.

But he wasn't convinced by a defence argument that a drugs conviction would jeopardise millions of dollars in earnings for Rudd. 

"Some of the affidavit material put before me suggests that you are integral to the band's sound and you are an iconographical member of the band. That point doesn't persuade me completely. Queen have replaced Freddy Mercury and it's clear that the band is currently touring without you," the judge said.

Rudd will be allowed to make authorised visits during his home detention but will also be monitored electronically.

He was sacked from AC/DC in 1983. He rejoined in 1994 but has remained in New Zealand where he runs a restaurant.