David Robert John Pine, 31, appeared in the Dunedin District Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to speaking threateningly and shoplifting.
He was outside a Maryhill home on December 14 when he was asked to leave by the resident.
As Pine walked away, he "made hate comments towards the victim about his race, stating words to the effect of you are Indian, you shouldn’t be talking to me like that", court documents said.
His conduct escalated as he got into a car.
"You are kicking me out, how dare you, I’ll slit your throat," Pine said.
"I’ll bring the gang round and burn your house down."
Counsel Karlena Lawrence said her client had suffered a fall leading up to the incident and his comments stemmed from the pain he was suffering.
Judge David Robinson had a different take.
"Frankly, this is out and out racial abuse," he said.
A couple of months later, Pine stole a couple of sets of wireless earbuds and a wireless power bank from Night ‘n Day.
He was seen by police trying to sell the items in George St.
Ms Lawrence stressed it had been more than five years since Pine’s last violence conviction and nearly a decade since he was in trouble for dishonesty.
While she argued community work should be imposed, the judge noted the defendant had twice breached such a sentence.
"You treated sentences as optional — they’re not," he said.
He gave Pine 100 hours’ community work but it came with a warning.
Should he not comply, he would appear before the court again and the outcome would be imprisonment.
Pine was also ordered to pay $150 reparation.
