Larne man threatened to 'burn down house'
A man threatened to kill a man and woman and said he would burn a house down "with both of you in it".
Details were given to Ballymena Magistrates Court where Mark Robert Duncan (40), with an address listed as Ferris Avenue in Larne, admitted charges of 'threatening behaviour' and making a threat to damage property.
He also admitted being in possession of cannabis on November 6 last year. The threats were made in a phone call.
In another message the defendant said that he would "end up killing her and him" and said he knew where the man lived and that he would "go the house and beat him unconscious".
When interviewed the defendant told police that he "didn't expect his words would be perceived as threatening".
A defence barrister said that it had been "nasty, disgraceful, piece of behaviour". The defendant had a record.
The lawyer said that the defendant acted out of "anger and jealousy".
District Judge Nigel Broderick told the defendant: "This is a worrying set of facts and the recipient of the phone calls didn't know that you were maybe saying this out of anger or other reasons, they probably thought that you may well carry out the threats."
The defendant was ordered to do 75 hours of Community Service and was put on Probation for 18 months with a condition that he undertakes the 'Respectful Relationships Programme'.