Husband shot wife twice and threatened to slit her throat because she turned down his music

Konrad Kurpias has been jailed for 30 months after he fired the gun into Sylwia Kurpias' stomach

Brute: Enraged husband shot wife twice with BB gun

A husband shot his wife twice in the stomach and threatened to slit her throat because she turned his music down.

Sylwia Kurpias said she was "scared for my life" after her husband Konrad turned on her with the ball bearing gun.

During their six-year-marriage he had repeatedly threatened her with violence, especially when he had been drinking.

Prosecutor Siobhan Linsley said Mrs Kurpias had come downstairs and turned the music down in their home in Southampton, Hampshire, while Kurpias was talking to a friend in the kitchen.

Kurpias, 42, became aggressive, grabbed hold of her and put the BB gun against her temple.

Southampton Crown Court heard he said: "I will destroy you."

Kurpias fired two pellets into her stomach before putting a knife to her throat and was about to draw it across her neck when the friend intervened.

Trial: Southampton Crown Court

Mrs Kurpias went to bed crying and her husband later came upstairs acting as though nothing had happened.

The following morning, she squeezed the wounds and the pellets fell out.

When she tried to phone the police, Kurpias pushed her over and she suffered a head wound.

She described how the tension in their marriage had been building since he lost his job, saying:

"The longer he is unemployed, the more he becomes aggressive. I am scared for my life."

Kurpias admitted two counts of causing actual bodily harm and was jailed for 30 months.

Passing sentence, Recorder Stephen Climie told him: "This must have been a terrifying time for the lady.

"She suffered significant and unpleasant injuries."

He also banned Kurpias from contacting his wife under the terms of a restraining order.