A Turkish barber hurled foul-mouthed abuse at his wife and threatened her after completing a court-ordered social work course on how to treat Scottish women.
Fecri Konu, 32, admitted causing his hairdresser wife Liza fear or alarm by subjecting her to a tirade of abuse on various occasions.
Konu had previously been sent on a course to change his attitude to Scottish women.
Solicitor Billy Somerville told Perth Sheriff Court Konu’s victim was the same person that led to him undergoing the year-long cultural attitude course.
Sheriff Keith O’Mahoney deferred sentence until next month and ordered social background reports and a restriction of liberty assessment on Konu.
Konu, of Dens Road, Dundee, admitted that on various occasions on December 1 he caused fear or alarm to his partner at King Street in Perth.
He admitted repeatedly adopting an aggressive stance and uttering threats towards her, and punching doors and shouting and swearing at Mrs Konu.
In 2012, Konu was ordered to undergo social work supervision 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.
A sheriff ordered him to spend a year working with social workers after accepting the confrontation was sparked by “cultural differences” between Turkey and Scotland.
When officers from Tayside Police quizzed him about using the knife, Konu stated: “That’s what happens in a marriage.”
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said he accepted the incident was not a “domestic assault” in the traditional sense, but was due to the couple’s different views of their roles.
Sheriff Foulis said: “You just need to look at the context and the accused’s attitude to pick up that the root of this offence is cultural.
“On the face of it, the accused’s wife was certainly acting in a perfectly normal manner. The problem is that the accused doesn’t think that, because it is quite possible that in his homeland a wife wouldn’t behave that way.
“It strikes me this is crying out for a supervision requirement, so someone can sit down with the accused and explain over a period – in the nicest possible way – that he is in the UK and there are certain norms of behaviour which you may find strange or alien to you, but the fact of the matter is that’s the position here.
“If that isn’t done it would not surprise me if he again finds himself in a situation where something occurs that he takes offence to which his wife finds perfectly normal.”
Social worker Susan Cassidy told the court: “He does lack sufficient awareness of what’s acceptable behaviour in the UK. It could also be argued that his wife could help raise awareness of cultural differences.”
Konu admitted breaching the peace on that occasion by shouting and swearing at Liza K Hairdressers in Perth. He admitted presenting the knife at her and telling her to stab him with it.
Solicitor Alison McKay, defending, said: “What appears to be the crux of the matter is that there is a large cultural divide between the accused and his wife.
“From his perspective she acted in a disrespectful manner and it was worse to do that in front of another man, from his cultural perspective.”
