Chris Brown given suspended sentence over bottle attack

U.S. singer Chris Brown was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, on Monday for affray over a 2023 bottle attack at a London nightclub, avoiding immediate jail time.

Judge Tony Baumgartner imposed the sentence at Southwark Crown Court, reported the Guardian, CNN, RTÉ and Good Morning America. The 37-year-old Brown had pleaded guilty in July.

The attack happened at the Tape nightclub in Mayfair on Feb. 19, 2023. The victim was music producer Abraham Diaw. Prosecutors said in July that Brown struck Diaw twice over the head with a glass bottle, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Baumgartner said Brown did not qualify for custody because of his guilty plea and mitigating factors that included stable employment and charity work. He also described the violence as serious. “The repeated use of a glass bottle in that way, especially aimed at the head, was plainly dangerous,” the judge said, according to reports of the hearing.

Brown and his vocal coach, Omololu Akinlolu, 40, pleaded guilty to affray on July 24. Both men had earlier denied more serious charges of attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm and assault causing actual bodily harm.

Brown’s bail conditions allowed him to leave the United Kingdom after the plea, but he was required to return by Sunday, the day before sentencing.

Under English law, a suspended sentence means the defendant does not go to prison unless he commits another offence during the suspension period or breaks any conditions the court sets. If that happens, the court can order the original prison term to be served. In this case the suspension runs for one year.

Affray is a public order offence under U.K. law. It covers a person using or threatening unlawful violence in a way that would cause a person of reasonable firmness to fear for their safety. The charge carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison when tried in the Crown Court.

Brown’s name was among the most searched terms in Canada on Monday morning, according to Google Trends. The singer has a large Canadian following and has performed in the country many times, but the case itself was heard entirely in London.

Canada News Media will update this story if further details of the sentence, including any conditions attached to the suspension, are confirmed by the court or by reputable reporting.

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