Tauranga rocker Phil Rudd has lost his appeal against his home detention sentence.

The former AC/DC drummer appealed to the High Court after being sentenced to eight months' home detention on charges of threatening to kill as well as possession of methamphetamine and cannabis.

Phil Rudd must serve his home detention at his Harbourside Drive home in Bureta. Photo: File.

He was sentenced in Tauranga District Court on July 9 and also ordered to pay $120,000 reparation.

Rudd believes he should have been discharged without conviction and appealed against his sentence on the basis that it is manifestly excessive.

However, in a High Court judgment released today, Justice Raynor Asher dismissed the appeal.

He said he had to decide whether the consequences of a conviction were out of all proportion to the gravity of the offence.

'In my view they are not," says Justice Asher. "Even with the convictions, Mr Rudd may practice as a musician in session work and in concerts in New Zealand and in other countries.”

Justice Asher notes there is the potential for Rudd to lose significant income because of the conviction, but says for that to arise two things would have to happen.

'First, the band would have to want him to play with them. Second, the convictions would have to operate as a barrier to him travelling with them on tour. Neither are certain.

'It is far from clear that, at the time when the offending took place, there was any place in the band available to Mr Rudd, given his drug addiction and state of mind.”

Background of the case

According to the summary of facts, Rudd "lost it" after his solo album failed to take off on August 29, 2014.

Court documents say Rudd also made a call to an associate in Australia and said he wanted a person taken out.

He called his associate again and offered $200,000, a motorbike, one of his cars or his house which the associate took as payment for taking out the victim.

On September 26, Rudd called the victim and threatened to kill him.

Rudd made several other phone calls to the victim, but when the victim realised who it was he terminated the call.

Police raided Rudd's Bureta home on November 6 and found 0.487grams of methamphetamine and 91grams of cannabis.

Rudd initially denied possessing the drugs and making the phone calls.

Craig Tuck, Rudd's defence lawyer, says the matter was just essentially an angry phone call.

'That resulted in police getting a search warrant for, believe it or not, possession of cannabis own use and possession of a cellphone.

'They turned up at his home - nine police officers, a dog and the media. Police charged him with attempting to procure murder, which was immediately dropped.”