A man who threatened to kill New Zealand Prime Minister John Key by blowing him up as he dined in a restaurant was jailed Friday for 13 months, media reports said.
Keith William Mabey, 22, who suffers from schizophrenia, had told a psychologist he had imagined killing Key ever since he became prime minister in 2009.
Mabey said he knew which restaurant Key and his wife dined at every Thursday and planned to walk in and blow him up.
He said he had researched bomb-making on the Internet and had successfully carried out tests using gunpowder and a detonator.
At the sentencing on Friday, Mabey's lawyer said he was now taking mood-controlling drugs and appealed for home detention. However Judge Les Atkins said a jail term was the only "appropriate" sentence.
Mabey was jailed for four months for threatening to kill 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.
