US singer Chris Brown has avoided jail after striking a man twice in the head with a glass tequila bottle in a London nightclub.
The R&B star was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, over the attack at private members’ club Tape in Mayfair, in the early hours of 19 February 2023.
Brown’s vocal coach, rapper Omololu Akinlolu, who joined the attack, was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. Both men, who had pleaded guilty to affray, were also ordered to pay £1,500 costs.
Judge Tony Baumgartner said Brown’s use of the glass bottle to hit the victim twice over the head “was plainly dangerous”, adding that the violence of the attack was “intense”.
The sentence means Brown will not be imprisoned unless he commits another offence during the 12-month period of suspension.
The court heard Brown’s attack on music producer Abraham ‘Abe’ Diaw left the victim in need of hospital treatment for his injuries.
In sentencing, Judge Baumgartner said: “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.”
CCTV footage was shown where Brown struck Diaw four times with the bottle, connecting twice with his head, and then hitting his shoulder.
Sentencing Brown, Judge Baumgartner said: “This was not planned violence. It was nevertheless serious violence by two people in a crowded nightclub.”
The judge told Brown: “Violence of this kind in a crowded nightclub is serious, it creates an obvious risk, not only to the person against whom it is directed, but also to others nearby.”
He added that Brown’s conduct was “particularly dangerous” and that he had to be “physically pulled away” from the attack.
The judge said Brown’s fame, commercial success and professional standing “do not entitle you to special treatment – the law applies equally to everyone”.
But judge Baumgartner also said he had noted Brown’s guilty plea, compliance with bail conditions, and the impact a custodial sentence would have on Brown’s children, and said the singer’s “risk of further offending is low”.
Brown and Akinlolu pleaded guilty to a charge of affray at Southwark Crown Court in July.
The singer had been due to face a trial on more serious charges, which he denied, and which were subsequently dropped.
These were assault, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm, and having an offensive weapon.
Following Brown and Akinlolu’s guilty pleas, the CPS released a statement outlining that Brown had approached Diaw on the dance floor, hitting him over the head with a glass bottle twice, before Akinlolu then punched Diaw in the head.
“They continued their assault whilst the victim attempted to flee through the club,” the CPS said. “The victim was kicked while he was seated defenceless on the floor.”
Judge Baumgartner told the pair that while he had concluded they had both crossed the threshold to be jailed, this year’s changes to sentencing laws meant that he had to put off doing so, unless there were exceptional reasons.
“I have considered whether the seriousness of the offending, taken together with the need for punishment and deterrence, amounts to exceptional circumstances requiring immediate imprisonment. I have concluded, in relation to each of you, that it does not,” he said.
“These were serious offences deserving of custodial sentences, but the circumstances do not justify displacing the [new legal] requirement that those sentences be suspended.”
Credit: BBC
