Chris Brown Avoids Jail Over Mayfair Nightclub Bottle Attack
US singer Chris Brown has been given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, for hitting a man with a glass tequila bottle at a private members' club in Mayfair, London. He will not be imprisoned unless he commits another offence during the suspension.
He was sentenced on Monday over the attack at the club, Tape, in the early hours of 19 February 2023. His vocal coach, the rapper Omololu Akinlolu, joined the attack and received four months, also suspended for 12 months. Both men had pleaded guilty to affray in July, and both were ordered to pay £1,500 in costs.
What the court was shown
The court watched three pieces of CCTV footage from inside the club. They showed Brown hitting the music producer Abraham "Abe" Diaw four times with the bottle, twice on the head. The attack lasted no more than 20 seconds, and the club was very small and packed.
Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe KC described the weapon as a "heavy square-shaped tequila bottle" and said Brown approached Diaw at around 03:00. The Crown Prosecution Service said Akinlolu then punched Diaw in the head and that Diaw was kicked while he sat defenceless on the floor.
Diaw was taken to St Mary's Hospital and discharged with pain relief and a diagnosis of head injury and superficial injury of the knee. An MRI scan in early March showed a "high grade injury to a ligament on the inner side of the left knee", the court heard. The defence said the force used was relatively low and pointed out that there were no fractures or broken skin.
The judge's reasoning
Judge Tony Baumgartner said Brown's use of the bottle "was plainly dangerous" and the violence "intense". "This was not planned violence," he said. "It was nevertheless serious violence by two people in a crowded nightclub."
He told Brown that his fame, commercial success and professional standing "do not entitle you to special treatment - the law applies equally to everyone". He also took into account the guilty plea, compliance with bail conditions and the effect a prison term would have on Brown's children, and said the singer's "risk of further offending is low".
The judge said both men had crossed the threshold for jail. Changes to sentencing laws this year, however, meant he had to suspend the sentences unless there were exceptional reasons, and he found none.
Brown's defence called him a "dedicated and a loving father of four children" who had lived "a good and law-abiding life" since his last conviction in 2013. His lawyer Sallie Bennett-Jenkins KC called the episode "an ugly and unattractive incident" and relayed a "profound apology" to everyone in the club. Akinlolu's lawyer, Laurie-Anne Power KC, said he "genuinely believed" Brown was under attack when he joined in.
Brown had been due to stand trial on more serious charges, which he denied. They were assault, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and having an offensive weapon, and were dropped after the guilty pleas.
Loud cheers greeted Brown, 37, outside the court, and he appeared to stop to sign an autograph. Afterwards he posted a video on his Instagram story from inside his car, showing him giving a thumbs-up.
Source: BBC News