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Chris Brown Avoids Prison, Handed Suspended Sentence Over London Nightclub Bottle Attack
The singer pleaded guilty to affray after video showed him striking a former friend with a bottle at a Mayfair club in 2023 — a judge cited his guilty plea and years of staying out of trouble in sparing him jail time.
Chris Brown was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for a year, at Southwark Crown Court over a 2023 nightclub attack, meaning the singer will avoid jail unless he commits another offense during the suspension period. Brown pleaded guilty in July to a single charge of affray, a plea that avoided a trial on more serious counts including attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of a bottle as an offensive weapon, each of which could have carried a sentence of up to three years.
The case centered on a February 2023 incident at Tape, a private members' club in London's Mayfair neighborhood, while Brown was touring Britain. Surveillance footage shown in court showed Brown striking a former friend, Abraham Diaw, twice in the head with a bottle before bystanders pulled him away.
Mitigating factors cited by the judge
Judge Tony Baumgartner said Brown would not serve time behind bars because of his guilty plea and several mitigating factors, including steady work and charitable efforts, though he noted Brown's past convictions. The judge said Brown had otherwise stayed out of legal trouble in recent years. Brown's lawyer, Sallie Bennett-Jenkins, told the court her client apologized to those at the club, while the prosecutor countered that video evidence left no doubt about who started the confrontation.
BY ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, WHEN ONE WATCHES THAT FOOTAGE, IT IS MR. BROWN THAT MOVES FIRST.
Brown's friend and longtime vocal coach, Omololu Akinlolu, pleaded guilty to the same charge of affray in connection with the incident and received a separate four-month sentence, also suspended.
A pattern of legal trouble
The sentencing adds another chapter to Brown's long history of legal entanglements, which date back to his 2009 felony assault conviction involving then-girlfriend Rihanna. NBC Boston reported that Brown has continued touring internationally throughout the case's proceedings, and his representatives have not indicated any change to his upcoming performance schedule following the sentencing.