AC/DC Drummer Phil Rudd Sentenced to Eight Months of Home Detention

BY Alex HudsonPublished Jul 9, 2015

In recent months, AC/DC's Phil Rudd has been embroiled in a court case in which he faced charges of threatening to kill and drug possession. Now, the drummer — who has lost his spot in AC/DC's lineup — has been sentenced to eight months of home detention.

This punishment was handed out in New Zealand's Tauranga District Court on Thursday (July 9). Stuff.co.nz reports that the judge told Rudd that he would be sent to prison if he disobeyed the terms of his sentence.

Rudd had sought a discharge without conviction. But even though he was ultimately sentenced to home detention, this is a far less severe punishment than he could have faced: the charge of threatening to kill came with a possible jail term.

Back in April, Rudd confessed to threatening to kill a contractor who he had previously employed. He also threatened the man's 10-year-old daughter and reportedly phoned an associate about having the man "taken out." The initial incident occurred on September 26, 2014; when police subsequently raided the drummer's home in November, they found methamphetamine and cannabis.

The 61-year-old Rudd was initially accused of attempting to procure a murder, but this charge was quickly dropped. In regards to the charge of threatening to kill, Rudd previously admitted, "It was a mistake, yeah. Everyone makes mistakes."

Meanwhile, AC/DC are continuing on without Rudd, and they recently made their catalogue available through streaming services.

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