A Kuwaiti-Irish national whose brawl with Turkish shopkeepers inspired a "beat'em up game" attended the first hearing of a trial in which both he and the shopkeepers stand accused. Mohammed Fadel Dobbous was captured on security camera footage in August 2015 when he was seen knocking out a horde of locals singlehandedly. His action has earned him the nickname the "Irish boxer" in Turkish media.

Dobbous, who left the brawl with a broken arm, told a court in Istanbul yesterday that he was not "a boxer," but simply "a Mike Tyson fan."

The Irish national faces up to nine months in prison for deliberate injury and prosecutors are asking for prison terms of up to seven years for three shopkeepers on charges of aggravated assault.

Dobbous was trying to open a refrigerator full of water bottles when he inadvertently yanked it open, causing the bottles to fall out, as the security camera footage of the incident testifies. This was when a shopkeeper swinging a stick jumped on him, only to see Dobbous evade the hit and go on taking out other shopkeepers coming at him. The shopkeepers have claimed that Dobbous attacked them first and had visited the shop with his friends in an attempt to beat the shopkeepers who refused to sell him alcohol.

The tourist told the court the brawl happened "because of a water bottle," referring to the first incident. "I don't remember what happened next. I was trying to save my life," he said. "When the bottles fell, the man in the shop tried to hit me with a stick. I grabbed it and threw it away. I was confused. Then, others came at me. I don't remember their faces. One man tried to stab me in the back," he claimed. Dobbous also said he "would be done" if he fell when the assailants hit him repeatedly.

Şenol Palan, one of the shopkeepers, said Dobbous should be blamed for the incident. "I had several tourists in the shop. One of them wanted to buy alcoholic drinks. I told them we dontarget="_blank"'>