Chris Brown gets suspended sentence for London nightclub assault

American singer Chris Brown was sentenced on Monday to eight months in prison, suspended for one year, for assaulting music producer Abraham Diaw at Tape nightclub in London. Brown’s vocal coach, Omololu Akinlolu, received a four-month sentence, also suspended for one year. Both men pleaded guilty to affray under British law.

Judge Tony Baumgartner delivered the sentence at Southwark Crown Court. He said Brown initiated the physical attack and used a heavy, square tequila bottle as a weapon, striking Diaw twice on the head. The judge described repeatedly hitting someone over the head with a glass bottle as plainly dangerous.

“The repeated use of a glass bottle in that way, particularly when directed towards the head, carried the risk of causing significantly more serious injury than Diaw ultimately sustained.”

Security camera footage shown in court recorded four bottle strikes, two of them to the victim’s head. The recording lasted two minutes and 23 seconds, while the assault itself took less than 20 seconds. Prosecutors said Brown approached Diaw from the dance floor around 3 a.m. before Akinlolu joined in.

Prosecutors from the Crown Prosecution Service characterized the attack as violent and unprovoked. They said the pair continued assaulting Diaw as he tried to escape through the crowded club, and that Akinlolu kicked Diaw while he was sitting helpless on the floor.

Diaw required hospital treatment and was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital with head and knee injuries. A scan showed no abnormality, and he was discharged with crutches and pain relief. The offense carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

Dozens of fans gathered outside the courthouse as Brown, a Grammy Award winner who rose to fame as a teenager, faced sentencing. The judge said he would not sentence either defendant based on the most serious possible interpretation of the events.