TWO thugs have been caged for threatening a former Barrhead heroin baron over £150,000 he owed for a luxury car debt.

Kyle Byrne and George Stewart went to Sultan Mohammed's home and threatened him over the six-figure sum he is said to owe for luxury Range Rovers.

Mohammed was jailed for five years and three months in 2011 after cops busted his heroin empire which distributed drugs worth £200,000 from Yorkshire to Ayrshire.

On July 23 this year, Byrne, 28, and Stewart, 31, went to Mohammed's home, in Hillside Road, to try to get him to pay up for the car debt. The details emerged when the pair appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court to admit their guilt.

Procurator Fiscal Depute Keri Marshall said: "Byrne stated to [Mohammed] they were 'friends of Fati' and 'wanted to chat'. The complainer let the males enter the house."

Byrne said Mohammed owed £150,000 but he insisted he owed nothing.

Ms Marshall added: "The complainer spoke with both men for some time but eventually asked them both to leave his house and, as they were leaving, Byrne said, 'We'll be back – and next time we won't be so friendly'."

Stewart agreed with all the comments, which were made by Byrne, and that night Mohammed reported to police.

Defence solicitor Paul Kavanagh, representing both men, said: "They were there to collect a legitimate debt, as they were told, in relation to the purchase of high-value Range Rovers – and there were four Range Rovers sitting outside the house."

The pair were charged with extortion but accepted a reduced charge of behaving in a threatening manner.

Sheriff James Spy caged them for eight months, reduced from 12 as they admitted their guilt at the earliest opportunity.