A road rage thug threatened another driver with a towing hook as they motored down the A9 at 70mph.
Robbie Murray erupted when his Audi A3 was cut off by a motorist who swerved to avoid a pothole on the Keir Roundabout, near Dunblane.
Driver Shaun McKenzie held up his hands to apologise.
Murray responded by giving him the middle finger and tailing him along the road before overtaking and braking sharply in front.
Perth Sheriff Court heard the cat-and-mouse chase continued for several miles.
Police were called after Murray drove level with Mr McKenzie’s vehicle, wound down his window and brandished a towing eye – for attaching a tow hook to a vehicle – at him while shouting threats.
The 31-year-old, of Logie Crescent, Perth, appeared in the dock and admitted a charge of careless driving and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, likely to cause fear or alarm, on January 26 last year.
Swerved to avoid crash
Fiscal depute Sarah Wilkinson told the court: “This happened at about 3.15pm.
“Mr McKenzie was driving around the Keir Roundabout when he noticed a pothole in his lane.
“He changed lane very quickly to avoid it and in doing so he pulled in front of accused’s vehicle and narrowly missed hitting it.
“He raised his hand in an attempt to apologise to the accused.
“The accused in response began to flash his headlights at the vehicle and raised his middle finger and made other gestures.
“Mr McKenzie went along the A9 with the accused directly behind him.
“He sped up in an attempt to gain space but the accused in return sped his vehicle up, keeping the gap between them very small.
“As Mr McKenzie passed a junction on the A9, he was overtaken by the accused and pulled directly in front of his vehicle.
“The accused then applied his brakes sharply, which caused Mr McKenzie to take evasive action in order to avoid a collision.”
The fiscal depute said: “Mr McKenzie swerved into lane two and continued along the A9, towards Perth.
“The accused started to overtake him, pulling his vehicle alongside.
“At this time, they were both travelling at about 70mph.”
Mr McKenzie lowered his window and shouted to the accused: “What the f***?”
Ms Wilkinson said: “He looked into the accused’s vehicle and could see that he had lowered his window.
“The accused was highly agitated and reached over to his glove box to pull an item out.
“He then brandished a towing eye or something similar towards Mr McKenzie and uttered threats of violence.”
Ms Wilkinson said: “Both continued driving their vehicles.
“The accused again overtook Mr McKenzie and pulled in front of his vehicle.”
Later, police visited Murray’s home armed with a search warrant.
“They found the towing eye within the car’s glove box,” said Ms Wilkinson.
‘Quite deliberate’ behaviour
Solicitor Paul Ralph, defending, said: “Who knows why some people react the way they do when they’re on the road?
“I think he possibly got a fright in the first instance but he accepts that’s no excuse for the way he behaved.”
Sheriff James MacDonald told Murray: “We are dealing here with a course of conduct that involved the use of a motor vehicle.
“The locus here is a dangerous road and these manoeuvres were carried out at high speed.
“This is an example of inconsiderate driving.
“I feel that ‘careless driving’ is an inappropriate description as your behaviour was quite deliberate.”
Murray was ordered to carry out 108 hours of unpaid work and banned from driving for 40 days.
