A Sydney teenager has been sentenced to serve community service for threatening radio 2GB broadcaster Brian Wilshire in an act described in court as an attack on freedom of speech of the highest order.

19 year old Michael Kairouz from Sydney made the threats in an email.

He claimed he would circulate photographs of Brian Wilshire throughout the middle- eastern community and warned that his family would also be physically targeted.

Police investigated threats, tracing them to the unemployed man’s home computer. He was arrested and charged with two offences.

He has been convicted in Liverpool court and sentenced to 120-hours community service which will take several months to carry out. The magistrate could have jailed him for the offences. He instead described the crime as an assault on freedom of speech.

Kairouz told the court, he was sorry for his actions and will write to Wilshire to apologise.

He’s the second person convicted over threats to the station in the last month.

A NSW South coast man was sentenced to 12-months good behavior for similar email threats on 2GB journalist Jason Morrison. He was also fined $3000.