A PAIR of cousins who set about a the owner of a takeaway in a drunken attack have been spared immediate jail after telling a judge they've quit boozing.

Pinehurst man Craig Reeves was fighting with Levi Morgan after a night out when the window of the takeaway got smashed.

And when Alexander Livingstone, manager of Calne Charcoal Grill, tried to move them on, the pair turned their attentions to him.

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that Morgan, 22, also known as Waters, and Reeves, 24, had been out on Saturday, December 20.

At about 1.30am they were scrapping with each other when the pane of glass in the High Street eatery was smashed.

"The manager, Mr Livingstone, went outside to try to move them on. He was then punched in the face by Mr Reeves," she said.

"He lost his balance and fell to the floor. Mr Morgan then joined in and started punching him while he was on the ground."

She said he managed to crawl back in through the serving hatch of the takeaway while his attackers were ushered out of the shop.

As a result of the attack, she said he was left with a cut cheek, cut to the bridge of his nose, a black eye and chipped tooth.

Reeves, of The Bungalows, Pinehurst, and Waters, of George Close, Calne, both admitted causing actual bodily harm and Reeves also pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage.

The court was told that both men had long histories of alcohol-fuelled offending, with Morgan being fined for being drunk and disorderly just two months earlier.

Ceri Harrison, defending, said although Reeves still lived at home with his mother he had cut down on his alcohol consumption.

"He has only drunk alcohol on two occasions since December. Part of that is more due to family life," she said.

"Also he has come to the resolution that alcohol gets him in trouble and he doesn't want to do that anymore."

She said Morgan had trouble getting on with probation in the past but now he was in the crown court for the first time he realised he had to change.

"He tells me alcohol has been a major problem in his life and he has sought to give that up: he has completely abstained from alcohol since the day of the offence," she added.

She said he had been offered work as a builder by a family friend, which could lead to an apprenticeship, and he was keen to take it up.

He had also taken up boxing again which he found helpful to channel his aggression and wanted to do some charity work so people could see he was not all bad.

Passing sentence Recorder Don Tait said: "You are both old enough to know better: going out and getting drunk in the streets and then causing trouble. The two of you have a long history of doing that.

"Behaving in a loutish and thuggish manner starts out on this occasion with the two of you fighting among yourselves and then other people get involved and the court won't tolerate this sort of behaviour in the streets."

"I am going to mark this behaviour with a suspended sentence order. If the both of you are genuine in your resolve to stop drinking and behaving like this, you are going to have two years to prove it."

He sentenced Morgan to eight months and Reeves nine months, both suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work and told them to each pay £100 compensation to their victim.