A MUSSELBURGH man spent the festive period in jail after assaulting a man during his Christmas work night out.

Gavin Inkster, of Delta Road, was out with fellow accused John Reid in Edinburgh city centre when they became involved with a group of men and women on the city’s Victoria Street.

The incident ended in violence and Inkster struck Sumit Kothari to the head, while Reid, from Edinburgh, assaulted Vaibhav Narula by punching him to the head.

Both men admitted amended charges when they appeared from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last Tuesday. Allegations of striking and attempting to strike the victims with a bottle were deleted from the charges and both men’s pleas of not guilty to possessing a bottle during the December incident were accepted by the Crown.

The court heard that Inkster and Reid clashed with the group, whom they did not know, as they had been out on the town following drinks with the building company they both work for.

Reid, 25, is currently serving a sentence for a separate offence and Sheriff Frank Crowe sentenced him to a concurrent three-month jail term for his part in the attack on December 23 last year.

Inkster, 26, was told he was being released on bail pending background reports, as he had served the equivalent of a five-month sentence after being remanded from Christmas Eve onwards following the assault.

He will return to court for sentencing on March 31.