A MILDURA restaurateur has pleaded guilty to sending threatening messages to his landlord after he failed to pay rent on his Eighth Street restaurant, which then closed.

Ross Surace, 49, was convicted and fined in Mildura Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Kristen Simm said in March a Mildura real estate agency issued a letter to vacate the premises, used as a re...