A man who was sentenced to unpaid work after threatening to burn down a relative’s house has been jailed for eight months for failing to complete his Community Payback Order.

Ian Robert Boyce, of Kilwinning’s Eglinton Place, admitted the breach at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week. Boyce, 29, had been ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work after previously pleading guilty to three charges from October 28, 2014.

The court heard that the weekend before the offences, Boyce had been out drinking and the relative was concerned about his whereabouts.

Boyce phoned her on October 28 while under the influence of alcohol. She asked where he had been and he said: “F*** off,” and “I’m going to come down to your house. I’m going to burn it down.”

That evening, the woman was at her Kilwinning home when Boyce rattled the letterbox. She asked him to leave but he threatened her and kicked the door. When police attended, Boyce shouted to them: “F*** off or I’ll do you in.”

He was restrained, but struggled with officers. Boyce’s solicitor Simon Brown said: “Mr Boyce admitted the breach. He recalls the conditions that were made at the last occasion. He accepts that he has not prioritised this as much as he should do.”

Mr Brown added that Boyce “had taken too much alcohol” at the time of the offences but that he now “has much more responsibility” and is in employment.

But Sheriff Shirley Foran said: “I simply cannot understand why you would do this. Now you’re going to lose the employment you now have because there is no alternative than a custodial sentence.”