A Dunedin man says distrust for authorities due to his emigration prompted his unravelling, leading him to accumulate seven convictions in two months.
In the early hours of March 6 last year, Fatih Tekinkaya, 36, was driving when he picked up three passengers who asked to be dropped off at a public toilet.
Ignoring their request, the man proceeded to drive in the direction of Port Chalmers, the Dunedin District Court heard this week.
Tekinkaya pulled over and became aggressive with the passengers before they managed to flee to a nearby petrol station.
On March 7, the man was assessed as "incapable of having proper control of a vehicle" and forbidden to drive after he was witnessed driving the wrong way down a one-way road at excessive speed.
The next day he was spotted travelling at 121kmh on SH1.
Police followed the man for a kilometre, before realising he had no intention of stopping.
Tekinkaya continued driving from Maheno to Dunedin at an estimated speed of 151kmh and police received five complaints from members of the public.
The vehicle was spiked near Pine Hill but Tekinkaya kept driving into the Dunedin CBD, ignoring the red traffic lights he encountered along the way.
After driving dangerously for over 100km, the man crashed into a parked car in Filleul St and ran off.
A police dog unit tracked his scent to his home, but the man was nowhere to be found.
The next day, he handed himself in to police.
Counsel Meg Scally said her client was off his medication at the time of the offending, which was "ignited by feelings of isolation and distrust as a result of his experiences as an immigrant".
"You were treated very badly by a lot of people, at school and at other times," Judge Large said.
The man reportedly felt unfairly targeted but had since expressed remorse for his actions.
Mrs Scally said the man had been dabbling in drug use, which led to his "particularly elevated state" and a brief stint in Wakari Hospital.
Tekinkaya had undergone a "significant transformation" since his offending and had worked hard to get away from his disadvantaged background, the court heard.
"I’m not going to send you to jail today but you need to know it was a very close thing," the judge said.
The man was convicted of intimidation, assault, possessing a weapon and four driving charges.
Tekinkaya was sentenced to four months’ home detention and disqualified from driving until June 2024.
