AN Irishman who singlehandedly fought off an angry mob of Turkish shopkeepers could face up to nine years in prison.
Kuwaiti-born Mohammed Fadel Dobbous - dubbed the ‘Irish boxer’ - became a viral sensation after taking on the mob in Istanbul last summer.
Following the incident he was arrested by police and charged with assault and grievous bodily harm.
He denied the charges at the Palace of Justice in Istanbul earlier in the week, the Irish Independent reports.
But now he could face jail time if found guilty.
CCTV footage of the street brawl made TV news in Turkey.
It showed a man in a white t-shirt who knocked several water bottles from the fridge of a convenience store in Istanbul.
An argument followed, and the angry shopkeeper hit the unarmed man with sticks and chairs, with the help of a few other locals.
The tourist fought back, flooring one of his attackers with a single punch at one point.
“When the bottles fell, the man in the shop tried to hit me with a stick. I grabbed it and threw it away,” Dobbous told the court.
“I was confused. Then, others came at me. I don’t remember their faces. One man tried to stab me in the back.”
Prosecutors have also demanded jail sentences for three shopkeepers allegedly involved in the brawl.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPh-Sq0ZoPI
