A MAN who battered a shopkeeper after he was refused alcohol was mocked by a sheriff for being “very brave when it is two versus one”.

Robert Cleland punched and kicked business owner Ilhan Ahmedov to the head and body after he was told the shop did not have an alcohol licence.

Cleland, 28, knocked the shopkeeper to the ground during the vicious assault, leaving the man with a broken cheekbone and a broken nose.

The attack was only halted when Mr Ahmedov’s partner and passers-by jumped in to the melee and pulled the attacker away.

Cleland and his accomplice Craig Douglas then ran way from the scene at Monktonhall Newsagents in Musselburgh.

The victim was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh following the brutal assault, where he received treatment to his injuries.

Cleland, of Tollbooth Wynd, Edinburgh, and Douglas were soon traced by police after officers viewed the shop’s CCTV footage and identified the pair.

Douglas was jailed for 18 months after he admitted his part in the attack at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

Now Cleland has also pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Ahmedov by pushing him on the body, seizing him by the neck and repeatedly punching him to the head and body at Eskview Terrace on August 10.

During last Tuesday’s hearing, Sheriff Kenneth McGowan told Cleland: “You’re very brave when it is two versus one, aren’t you?

“You should prepare yourself for a lengthy period in custody.”

Sentence was deferred to next month for the preparation of reports.

Fiscal depute Peter Motion told the court that Cleland and Douglas turned up at the shop at about 8.15pm asking to buy alcohol.

Mr Motion said: “The pair were asked to leave and both appeared to be intoxicated. The complainer felt scared by their presence and pressed the shop’s panic alarm.

“He tried to usher them out of the shop but at the front door they attacked the complainer.

“The accused repeatedly punched him to the head and body and he fell to the ground.

“The complainer got up and they took it in turns to punch the complainer to the head and body.

“The partner of the complainer hit the accused as she tried to protect the complainer.

“Passers-by also stopped in a bid to calm the situation down and the two men ran away.”

Police conducted a search for the pair and Cleland was soon picked up nearby.

CCTV footage was shown to Sheriff McGowan but not to the open court.

Defending solicitor Haroun Malik said he was reserving his mitigation for next month’s sentencing diet.