US singer Chris Brown avoids jail over London nightclub brawl

American singer Chris Brown avoided jail Monday as a UK court handed down an eight-month suspended sentence after he admitted taking part in a 2023 brawl at a London nightclub.

The judge ruled that the sentence against the former boyfriend of music sensation Rihanna was suspended for a year, meaning Brown will not be imprisoned unless he commits another offence during the period.

Brown, 37, who wore a black face mask, sunglasses and black baseball cap when he arrived at Southwark Crown Court in London, had admitted to affray at a court appearance in July.

“Violence of this kind in a crowded nightclub is serious. It creates an obvious risk, not merely to the person against whom it is directed, but also to others,” judge Tony Baumgartner said.

Prosecutors had accused Brown and co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu, also a US national, of carrying out “a vicious and unprovoked attack” in a crowded nightclub “where Brown used a glass bottle as a weapon to strike the victim’s head twice”.

The guilty plea avoided a trial on several other charges, including attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of a bottle as an offensive weapon.

Brown, who has sold tens of millions of records worldwide and who has a chequered legal history, had previously denied those charges.

All of the allegations relate to an incident at Tape, a private members’ club in London, on February 19, 2023, while Brown was touring Britain.

The victim, a music producer, was struck several times with a bottle before being pursued, punched and kicked.

“This was not planned violence. It was nevertheless serious violence by two people in a crowded nightclub,” the judge said.

Christina Jessah from London’s Metropolitan Police said: “This was an inexcusable attack that put a man in hospital.”

“Despite the passage of time and the fact the suspects were no longer in the UK, we were determined that those responsible should face justice,” Jessah added.

Brown was bailed on a £5 million ($6.7 million) guarantee last May, allowing him to perform his international tour, the highest-grossing tour of his career according to Billboard music industry magazine.

Legal troubles

Leaving court after the sentencing, Brown was greeted by loud cheers from dozens of fans, posing for photos with some of them before being driven away in a black car.

He later posted a video on Instagram making a thumbs up sign from inside his car.

The singer is known for mid-2000s hits such as “Kiss, Kiss”, as well as a litany of legal troubles, including a US felony conviction for assaulting Rihanna in 2009.

Brown rose from a church choir in Virginia to sudden fame with his rich R&B voice before turning to rap.

He was convicted of having beaten then-girlfriend Rihanna before the 2009 Grammy Awards, forcing the pop star to miss the gala.

In 2012, Brown was involved in an altercation at a New York nightclub with members of hip-hop star Drake’s entourage, during which French basketball player Tony Parker suffered an eye injury after being hit by a thrown glass bottle.

Two years later, Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting a fan in Washington.

Akinlolu, 40, also pleaded guilty to affray over the London incident. He was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment suspended for a year.