Chris Brown receives suspended sentence over London nightclub attack

American singer Chris Brown was given an eight-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months on Monday after pleading guilty to affray over a 2023 attack at a London nightclub.

The sentence imposed at Southwark Crown Court means Brown, 37, will not go to prison unless he commits another offence during the suspension period. He and co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu were also ordered to pay £1,500 each in costs.

The court heard that Brown struck music producer Abraham “Abe” Diaw twice in the head with a glass tequila bottle at Tape, a private members’ club in London’s Mayfair district, on Feb. 19, 2023. Diaw required hospital treatment. Prosecutors said Akinlolu then punched Diaw and that the assault continued as Diaw tried to flee through the club.

Judge Tony Baumgartner described the violence as serious and Brown’s use of the bottle as “plainly dangerous,” while finding that the attack had not been planned. The judge cited Brown’s guilty plea, compliance with bail conditions, the potential effect of imprisonment on his children and his low assessed risk of reoffending.

Akinlolu received a four-month prison sentence, also suspended for 12 months. Both men had pleaded guilty to affray in July. More serious charges against Brown, including attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and possessing an offensive weapon, which he had denied, were subsequently dropped.