This is the shocking moment two Irish travellers were caught on CCTV brutally assaulting a man during a night out because they wrongly thought he was insulting their heritage.

Gerald and Michael Connors, 20 and 18 respectively, were out drinking in Bristol in the afternoon when they claim to have been verbally abused by someone disrespecting their culture.

Hours later the brothers attacked a group of men they saw standing outside a bar in what police believe to be a case of mistaken identity.

They targeted Daniel Athey who was standing with his back to a shop wall, pummeling him with their fists until he doubled over.

This is the moment Irish traveller brothers Gerald and Michael Connors were caught on CCTV violently attacking 'defenceless' Daniel Athey after mistaking the man for someone who verbally abused them over their heritage hours earlier

The attack was caught on CCTV cameras in the area and shown at Bristol Crown Court where the brothers were found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

They were sentenced to nine months in jail, suspended for 18 months, after leaving the victim with a cut on his head.

Prosecutor Kenneth Bell described the moment Mr Athey was approached as he stood with friends in the street.

Esther Garland, who was there at the time, told of how the Connors brothers asked them for balloons before launching the attack.

'She said the group didn’t know what they were talking about and why they were becoming so aggressive,' said Mr Bell.

'Their reaction was to become louder and begin squaring up to the group, in particular a man among them called Daniel Athey.'

He described the assault as 'fast and furious', with the brothers quickly walking away to try to hail a taxi.

'They punched a man who was defenceless - he had his back against the wall,' said Mr Bell.

A woman stands in front of the group to ward off attack from the brothers who had been drinking for hours

The pair pummeled Mr Athey with their fists until he doubled over in the attack described as 'fast and furious'

'The Crown would say this was a serious assault.

'There is an element of pre-meditation because these two obviously wanted to punch this man - they could have easily walked away.'

Neither of the men had previous convictions for violence and told the court they were 'ashamed' of their actions but had been spurred on by racially aggressive comments.

Catherine Spedding, defending, said: 'They acted out of character - it was a mistake they bitterly regret.'

Judge William Hart, who told each man to complete 200 hours of community service, said: 'I hope you feel ashamed of yourselves.

'It’s very clear from the footage that you are both very handy with your fists and could have injured Mr Athey much more seriously.

'You inflicted a quick - but very violent - assault on this man.'

'The only thing that has saved you from custody is your youth and the fact you have no previous convictions for violence - you are very very close to having to go to jail.'

The men were found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Bristol Crown Court where footage of the incident was shown