An abusive husband who motored down the M90 at one of the highest speeds a Perth sheriff had ever seen has been jailed.
Dundee barber Fecri Konu sped past traffic police in his BMW sports car at 131mph.
Weeks earlier he made a threatening phone call to his wife, telling her: “If I see you with anyone else, I will kill you.”
Konu appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and pled guilty to dangerous driving near Gairneybridge in August.
He also admitted breaching a two-year non-harassment order several times – even after completing a year-long course on how to better treat Scottish women.
Sheriff Euan Duthie jailed Konu for seven-and-a-half months, despite claims that his Dundee barbershop business could fold if he’s put behind bars.
“These are all serious matters,” the sheriff said.
“You have a history of non-compliance and the speed your car was travelling at is the highest I have seen.
“I am quite satisfied that a custodial sentence is necessary.”
Several breaches
Fiscal depute Bill Kermode told the court that, between August 1 and September 29, Konu had attended repeatedly at his partner’s address.
He phoned and threatened to kill her, the court heard.
She was also contacted on Tik-Tok.
On another occasion, Konu’s partner saw him in a parked car as she was walking home from a salon in Scott Street.
“She got into the car because she was afraid he would begin shouting at her in the street,” said Mr Kermode.
The incidents were reported to police.
When he was cautioned and charged, Konu told officers: “F*** you.”
Told to address cultural beliefs
The court heard that Konu, of Alexandra Street, Perth, was caught speeding just after 7.30pm on August 27.
At the time, Police Scotland posted about the incident on social media, alongside a photo of the speed gun reading.
Solicitor Billy Somerville, defending, told the court: “Mr Konu knows that if he keeps breaching his non-harassment order he will be in a position where he faces a custodial sentence.”
Sheriff Duthie cut in: “I’m afraid he’s already there.”
Mr Somerville said that his client’s Dundee business could close if he’s locked up and suggested unpaid work as an alternative sentence.
It is the second time Konu has breached the non-harassment order since it was imposed in March.
In July, he admitted driving carelessly when he crashed his car into a lamp post, while his wife was in the passenger seat.
Prosecutors ruled the offence was aggravated by domestic abuse.
In 2012, Konu was ordered to undergo social work supervision for a year to address his cultural beliefs after pulling a knife on his Scottish wife for being “disrespectful” towards him.
Konu was told to change his attitude to Scottish women after confronting his wife when she was too busy working to join him for breakfast.
However, the lessons learned appear to have been forgotten as Konu’s offending resumed in 2018.
