A man accused a takeaway owner of working for Isis before threatening to blow up his family.

Alistair Gow, 44, subjected the curry shop boss to racist slurs in a series of late-night texts described by a sheriff as at the "extreme end" of racism.

Gow sent a string of messages to Sajjad Ali Allys after he ordered a takeaway from the shop in Bainsford, Falkirk, but did not accept it when the delivery driver arrived.

One text read: "Do you recruit for Isis? Want to join the n****r crew."

A few minutes later he text again: "Do you work for Isis?"

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard the meal was returned to the shop and the order cancelled before Gow sent the messages on December 23 last year.

Mr Allys reported the texts to police and officers attended his takeaway to investigate.

Shortly after they left he received another text in which Gow threatened to blow up his house.

Another two messages read: "Your shop's getting wiped out, n****r, tonight" and "Ten minutes to go, and family next".

Gow was arrested and told police he had drunk a full bottle of vodka as well as Buckfast before beginning the racist rant.

He said: "I ordered a takeaway and then changed my mind. That's when I went and sent these texts. I'm not a racist. I work with different races."

Ann Orr, prosecuting, said: "Mr Allys was offended and he did perceive these messages to be racist."

Gow pled guilty to making threats and offensive racial comments via a public electronic communications network.

Murray Aitken, defending, said: "This is not how he normally behaves. It was out of character. He can't give a reasonable or coherent explanation."

Sheriff Derek Livingston ordered Gow to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work as part of a community payback order.

He also placed him under social work supervision for 12 months and said he hoped he could be sent on an anti-racism course.

He said: "This was an extremely serious offence, and the language used was at the extreme. It is much more serious than the racial aggravations that we normally see in this court, which usually involve referring to someone's nationality."

The sheriff added: "If it were not for the fact that you don't have much of a record, I'd be imposing a custodial sentence."