A 21-YEAR-OLD man brandished an umbrella and confronted a pair of thugs taking part in a right wing march.
Mohammed Bassat, of Holland Road, Luton, had been in a fast food shop in Manchester Street when he saw a mob of 30 white men making racist chants.
He saw some of the group attacking two Asian men and kicking them while they were down and ran to their aid.
But he overstepped the mark when he began brandishing an umbrella and found himself arrested for affray.
Last Wednesday Luton Crown Court heard Bassat ended up in a fight with two of the thugs.
He admitted the charge when he appeared before Judge Andrew Bright QC.
The court heard the violence occurred in St George's Square outside the library building on May 24 2009.
That afternoon a right wing march (pictured above) took place through the town centre and was organised as a result of the home coming parade of the Royal Anglian Regiment being targeted by a group of radical young Muslims two months earlier.
Paul Millan, defending, described his client as intelligent and a man not given to violence.
"He realises he should have walked away," said Mr Millan, who said Bassat had brought shame on his family by getting involved that day in the trouble.
The court was told Bassat accepted he had gone beyond what was reasonable.
Passing sentence, Judge Bright said the message had to go out that, even if people were provoked as Bassat had been that day, they should always resist the temptation to get involved.
Bassat was given a 12 month community order and ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work and pay prosecution costs of £500.