A man who threatened to kill gardaí and rape their children when he blitzed a Garda station with a series of abusive calls from Australia has been jailed for almost four years.

A man telephoned gardaí from Australia and threatened to rape and kill a number of them and their children and then mocked their dead colleague killed in the line of duty.

A man has appeared in court charged with threatening to kill a female garda and her husband and making grossly offensive telephone calls to four different female gardaí at a Co Donegal Garda station.