By Sam Tobin
LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) – U.S. singer Chris Brown pleaded guilty on Friday to a charge of affray over what prosecutors described as a bottle attack on a producer in a London nightclub three years ago, with more serious assault charges dropped.
Brown, 37, and his vocal coach Omololu Akinlolu, 40, stood in the dock at London’s Southwark Crown Court and spoke only to confirm their names and their guilty pleas over the incident at London’s Tape nightclub in February 2023.
The pair had been charged with attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm and a less serious charge of assault causing actual bodily harm to Abraham Diaw, which the pair had denied and were due to go to trial in October.
Brown and Akinlolu pleaded guilty to the charge of affray, admitting they “used or threatened unlawful violence towards another and their conduct taken together was such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness … to fear for their personal safety”.
Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe said the other charges would not proceed to trial and Brown and Akinlolu were granted bail ahead of their sentencing at the same court on October 26.
The maximum sentence for affray is three years’ imprisonment and Judge Tony Baumgartner said that “all options” would be open to the court.
FANS CHEER BROWN’S APPEARANCE
Claire Campbell from the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement: “This was a vicious and unprovoked attack by Brown and Akinlolu in a crowded nightclub where Brown used a glass bottle as a weapon to strike the victim’s head twice.
“This kind of violence is entirely unacceptable, and the Crown Prosecution Service will work tirelessly – with the police and partners across the criminal justice system – to pursue cases like this, and prove that no one is above the law.”
Prosecutors had alleged Brown launched an “unprovoked attack” on Diaw with a tequila bottle, with Akinlolu and Brown said to have continued to attack Diaw as he tried to flee.
He was arrested in May 2025 having returned to Britain for the first time since the incident and initially denied bail, throwing his worldwide “Breezy Bowl XX” tour into doubt.
But Brown was eventually released after promising to pay a £5 million ($6.66 million) security fee, allowing the tour to go ahead.
The singer left court to cheers from fans chanting “Breezy! Breezy!” before signing autographs and then getting into a waiting car.
($1 = 0.7508 pounds)
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Kate Holton, William James and Alison Williams)
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