A scissor-wielding stylist who went berserk in a barbershop and stabbed a rival hairdresser in the leg has narrowly avoided being sent to prison.
Mehmet Celik was caught on CCTV bursting into Perth’s Top Class Turkish Barber salon and unleashing a frenzied attack on two employees.
The 35-year-old lost the plot because there were no photos of his friend – the salon’s previous owner – on the walls.
Perth Sheriff Court heard he had suffered a drug-fuelled “meltdown” after watching the friend drown during a fishing trip in Turkey three years ago.
Celik, a hairdresser from Inverness, returned to the dock for sentencing having previously admitted assaulting salon workers Ersin Bayraktar and Burhan Ucar to their injury at the High Street salon on October 1 2023.
Pushed barber over customer
Fiscal depute Lissie Cook said Celik had that afternoon visited the wife of his late friend, who owns the barbers.
“The accused was quite angry and was going on about the salon.
“He appeared to be under the influence of drugs.”
The owner was upset by his erratic behaviour and called police.
About 30 minutes later, at 4pm, Mr Ucar was walking to work when he saw Celik get out of a taxi and go into the barbers.
“The accused entered and was immediately aggressive,” said Ms Cook.
“He started squaring up to Mr Bayraktar.
“He was asking why there were no pictures of the owner’s husband hanging up in the shop.
“The accused began throwing punches at Mr Bayraktar, hitting him in the face.
“He shoved him to the ground, where he kicked him four times in the chest.”
CCTV showed Mr Bayraktar being pushed over a customer sitting in the barber’s chair.
Celik rained down punches as Mr Bayraktar lay on the ground.
Stabbed in the leg
Mr Ucar intervened and grabbed Celik by the arm.
Celik attempted to punch him, then tried to slash his face with a pair of hairdressing scissors.
Mr Ucar was struck on his left hand, causing a cut to his thumb.
At this point, three terrified customers ran out of the shop.
“The accused then turned to Mr Bayraktar and stabbed him in his right leg with the scissors,” the prosecutor said.
On video, Celik is seen ranting in the empty shop after his two victims ran into a back room.
He shouts and gesticulates wildly for several seconds before finally leaving and running up an alleyway.
Police caught up with him a short time later.
They recovered the salon scissors from the left hand pocket of his jogging bottoms.
Fishing trip tragedy
The court heard Mr Bayraktar suffered a “minor puncture wound” to his leg, as well as grazes and bruises.
Mr Ucar did not require medical treatment for his thumb injury.
Defence agent Kevin Connor said: “Clearly, the video shows that while the injuries were bad enough, they could have been much worse.
“What took place here would have been a terrifying ordeal for everyone present.”
He said his client had been battling mental health and drug abuse issues.
These stemmed from, he said, watching the salon’s previous owner drown during a fishing trip in Turkey in 2022.
“Since then he has been riddled with guilt,” Mr Connor said.
He said his client was prepared for prison but asked the court to consider an alternative sentence.
‘High tariff’ community sentence
Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane told Celik: “I am sure you will appreciate that when you watched back the CCTV, the punishment that is uppermost in my mind is custody.
“However, I am assured that you are not currently assessed as a particularly high risk so I will step back from sending you to prison.”
She said she would impose a “high tariff” community order as a direct alternative to custody.
If the order is breached, she said, he will be brought back to court and “all bets are off”.
Celik, of Huntly Court, Inverness, was placed on a six-month restriction of liberty order and must carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
He was ordered to pay £500 compensation to Mr Bayraktar and £200 to Mr Ucar.
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