Chris Brown has avoided prison after being given an eight-month sentence, suspended for a year, for assaulting music producer Abraham Diaw at a London nightclub in February 2023. The sentence was handed down on Monday at Southwark Crown Court.
The attack and the plea
Brown, a Grammy-winning artist, pleaded guilty in July to one count of affray over the incident at Tape, a nightclub in London’s Mayfair neighborhood. He could have faced up to three years in prison.
Video footage played in court showed that Brown, now 37, had to be pulled away from Diaw, a former friend. Brown struck Diaw twice in the head with a tequila bottle.
“The repeated use of a glass bottle in that way, especially aimed at the head, was plainly dangerous. It carried the risk of delivering a more serious injury than was ultimately sustained.”
Judge Tony Baumgartner made the remarks while sentencing.
Co-defendant also sentenced
Brown’s co-defendant, Omolulu Akinlolu, also pleaded guilty to affray in July. The 40-year-old received a four-month sentence, likewise suspended.
Baumgartner described Akinlolu’s role in the attack as “significant.” He noted, however, that Akinlolu did not initiate the attack and did not use a bottle or any other weapon, unlike Brown.
Both men must also each pay £1,500 (about $2,000) toward court costs.
Brown’s earlier legal history
Brown has faced repeated legal trouble over the years. The most notable case was his felony conviction for the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna.
Since then he has been arrested in several U.S. states over various altercations, but the charges were either dropped or he was not charged. In 2019, he was arrested in Paris on suspicion of rape and was ultimately released without charge.
