Wellington:
A man who threatened to kill the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key by blowing him up as he dined in a restaurant has been jailed for 13 months, media reports said.
Twenty-year-old Keith William Mabey, who suffers from schizophrenia, had told a psychologist that he had imagined killing Key ever since he became the Prime Minister in 2009.
Mr Mabey said that he knew the restaurant in which Mr Key and his wife dined at every Thursday and that he had planned to walk in and blow him up.
He said that he had researched bomb-making on the Internet and had successfully carried out tests using gunpowder and a detonator.
At the sentencing, Mr Mabey's lawyer said that he was now taking mood-controlling drugs and appealed for home detention.
However Judge Les Atkins said that a jail term was the only "appropriate" sentence.
Mr Mabey was jailed for four months for threatening to kill Mr Key and sentenced to an additional nine months on other charges which included threatening to kill his partner, assault and dangerous driving, Radio New Zealand said.
Twenty-year-old Keith William Mabey, who suffers from schizophrenia, had told a psychologist that he had imagined killing Key ever since he became the Prime Minister in 2009.
Mr Mabey said that he knew the restaurant in which Mr Key and his wife dined at every Thursday and that he had planned to walk in and blow him up.
He said that he had researched bomb-making on the Internet and had successfully carried out tests using gunpowder and a detonator.
At the sentencing, Mr Mabey's lawyer said that he was now taking mood-controlling drugs and appealed for home detention.
However Judge Les Atkins said that a jail term was the only "appropriate" sentence.
Mr Mabey was jailed for four months for threatening to kill Mr Key and sentenced to an additional nine months on other charges which included threatening to kill his partner, assault and dangerous driving, Radio New Zealand said.
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