Chris Brown avoids jail time over London nightclub brawl

Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown has avoided prison time for beating a music producer with a tequila bottle at a London nightclub three years ago.

The 37-year-old was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for a year.

He had faced up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a count of affray in July for the attack on the dance floor of Tape, a private club in the swanky Mayfair neighbourhood in February 2023.

Video footage played in court showed Brown having to be pulled away from the victim, his former friend Abraham Diaw, after striking him twice in the head with a 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 said in Southwark Crown Court.

Despite the seriousness of the attack, Judge Baumgartner said Brown did not qualify for a custodial sentence because he pleaded guilty and there were several mitigating circumstances, including stable employment and charity work.

The judge acknowledged Brown's previous convictions but said he had maintained a clean record in recent years.

Previous brushes with the law

Brown has faced repeated legal trouble since his felony conviction in the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, hours before the pair were due to perform at the Grammys.

He has been arrested in several US states over altercations but was either not charged or prosecutors later dropped the charges. In 2019 he was arrested in Paris and questioned on suspicion of rape, but was released without charge.

In return for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped charges of assault, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and having an offensive weapon, a bottle.

Brown's friend and vocal coach Omololu Akinlolu also pleaded guilty to affray and was given a four-month suspended sentence.

Affray is the use or threat of unlawful violence that leads someone to fear for their safety.

Brown apologises for the attack

Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe said Brown played a leading role in the attack.

"By any circumstances, when one watches that footage, it is Mr. Brown that moves first," Ms Stonecliffe said.

Defense lawyer Sallie Bennett-Jenkins said Brown apologised to all those at the club that night, though she emphasised the attack lasted no more than 20 seconds.

"This is an ugly and unattractive incident," Ms Bennett-Jenkins said.

"It is something which undoubtedly would have caused distress to those who are present and for which Mr. Brown … offers a profound apology to all those present."

Mr Diaw was discharged from the hospital with head and knee injuries, Ms Stonecliffe said.