Wellington: Australian hard rock band AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd on Thursday was sentenced to eight months' home detention for three criminal charges, media reported.

The Tauranga District Court sentenced Rudd, 61, on charges of threatening to kill an employee, and possession of methamphetamine and cannabis found in his home during a police raid last year, The New Zealand Herald reported.

Rudd would be monitored 24 hours a day during his home detention, to be served at his beachfront home in Tauranga. The judge warned Rudd he would go to prison if he breached the terms of his sentence.

Last year in August, Rudd was angry over the launch of his solo album, 'Head Job' which did not perform well on the music charts, following which he sacked a number of employees — including his would-be victim with whom he was "particularly angry" with.

On September 25, Rudd called an associate on a holiday in Australia and said he wanted the victim "taken out".

Rudd, the only Australian-born member of AC/DC, moved to New Zealand in 1983 after leaving the band, to which he later returned in 1994.

In November 2014, AC/DC released their 15th album "Rock or Bust". (IANS)