US singer Chris Brown has been sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 12 months, over a 2023 attack on music producer Abraham Diaw at a London nightclub.
The 37-year-old was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Monday after pleading guilty to affray in July.
The suspended sentence means he will not serve the prison term immediately, but it could be activated if he commits another offence during the 12-month suspension period.
The case arose from an incident at Tape nightclub in Mayfair in the early hours of February 19, 2023.
Prosecutors said Brown approached Diaw on the dance floor and struck him twice on the head with a glass bottle.
Brown’s vocal coach, Omololu Akinlolu, then joined the attack, punching Diaw.
Prosecutors said the assault continued as Diaw tried to escape and that he was kicked while on the floor.
Diaw was treated at St Mary’s Hospital for head and knee injuries, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Judge called attack serious public violence
Sentencing Judge Tony Baumgartner described the incident as serious public violence, noting Brown’s repeated use of a bottle, including two blows to Diaw’s head.
The judge said the attack was dangerous and carried the risk of causing more serious injuries.
Brown and Akinlolu had initially denied more serious charges, including attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and assault causing actual bodily harm.
Those charges were dropped after both men pleaded guilty to affray.
The offence involves using or threatening unlawful violence in a way that would cause someone present to fear for their safety.
It carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
Akinlolu, 40, was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for 12 months. The court also ordered both men to pay £1,500 in costs.
Brown was arrested in 2025
Brown was arrested in May 2025 after returning to Britain for a concert in Manchester, more than two years after the nightclub incident.
He was initially denied bail, but was later released after agreeing to provide £5 million in security.
The bail arrangement allowed him to continue his world tour.
During sentencing, the court considered Brown’s guilty plea and other mitigating factors, including his established music career, employment and charity work.
The ruling brings the criminal case over the nightclub attack to a close, although the suspended sentence leaves the prison term in place if he breaches its conditions.
Brown, a two-time Grammy winner, rose to fame as a teenager and has built a career in R&B music.
Monday’s sentence follows a case that drew international attention after video footage of the nightclub incident was presented in court.
