AC/DC drummer Rudd sentenced to house arrest

Phil Rudd, the Australian-born drummer for legendary hard rock band AC/DC, avoided a New Zealand prison term on Thursday. The judge sentenced Rudd, 61, to eight months of house arrest for threatening to kill an employee and drug possession.

Rudd was arrested in November at his mansion in the coastal New Zealand town of Tauranga after he called an associate to say he wanted a former employee "taken out," then called the man in question his former security chief, personally and threatened his life. The drummer was allegedly upset about organizational failures at an event to launch his solo album last August.

When the police raided his home, they found just under half a gram of methamphetamine and 91 grams of cannabis.

Rudd pleaded guilty in April, and had faced up to seven years in prison for the death threat. Judge Thomas Ingram decided, however, that in view of Rudd's limited criminal record, home detention was a more appropriate punishment. He warned, however, that the rocker would be closely monitored and swiftly imprisoned if drugs were found in his system.

"I stone cold guarantee that's where you'll end up," said Ingram, adding that "the temptations of the rock star lifestyle have caused your downfall here."

Judge rejects idea that Rudd is irreplaceable

Ingram was unmoved by defense lawyers who argued that Rudd stood to lose tens of millions if he could not get back to work with his band, as they have had to replace him on their current "Rock or Bust" world tour. International travel will likely be complicated for Rudd even after his house arrest has finished, as a drug conviction can be used as grounds to bar an individual from entering certain countries.

The judge was similarly unconcerned by Rudd's argument that his drumming was essential to AC/DC's music.

"Queen replaced Freddie Mercury, and it's clear that the band (AC/DC) is now touring without you," Ingram told the defendant.

Rudd was also alleged to have offered an associate a large sum of money, an expensive car or a house to "take out" his ex-security head, but the charges of "attempting to procure murder" were dropped as a result of insufficient evidence.

Phil Rudd became part of AC/DC in 1975 and played with them until 1983. He rejoined the band in 1994 and played with them until his arrest. He was part of the band lineup inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

Craig Tuck, Rudd's lawyer, told the press that he had already filed an appeal on behalf of the rocker.

es/jil (AFP, dpa)