Angus brothers have been sentenced for an early hours Carnoustie street attack on two other siblings.
Connor McGregor, 20, and Robert McGregor, 19, were making their way home when they fell in with Gary and Ainslie Tyndal on November 24 last year and took offence when the two older men began badgering them for alcohol.
The McGregors, who were described in court as being “protective” of each other, reacted by assaulting the two victims, leaving each of them with a black eye.
In the wake of the assaults, friends of all the parties became involved in a social media battle over the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Connor McGregor, of Andownie Road, admitted assaulting Gary Tyndal, punching him on the face and body, and knocking him to the ground to his injury in Barry Road and Robert McGregor, of Wallace Street, admitted assaulting Ainslie Tyndal by also punching him on the face and body, and knocking him to the ground to his injury.
Depute fiscal Jill Drummond said the two victims were extremely drunk at the time and had little recollection of exactly what happened.
The incident happened around 1.30am and the alarm was raised by a householder who overheard the street commotion and saw the two victims lying on the ground, with three other men screaming at the McGregor brothers to stop what they were doing.
Solicitor Nick Markowski, defending Connor McGregor, said his client apologised for his conduct in what was a “drunken argument”.
He said the 20-year-old was a young man with a “lot of potential” who had gained a university degree place but then “fell in with the wrong crowd”.
Robert McGregor’s solicitor, Nick Whelan, said the younger brother was a first-year engineering apprentice who had been out with friends when the group was approached by the two complainers, who were 27 and 30.
“They were aggressive towards them, demanding drink, but my client accepts matters went too far and way beyond self-defence,” he said.
Sheriff Pino Di Emidio imposed a six-month Community Payback Order on Connor McGregor, including 60 hours of unpaid work, and fined Robert McGregor £400.