Skip to main content
On Air Now
Listen Now

1pm to 4pm

Listen Now

1pm to 4pm

Chris Brown pleads guilty to affray after bottle attack in London nightclub - as mugshot of singer released

The 37-year-old hit a former friend twice over the head with a bottle on the dancefloor at the Tape private members’ club in Mayfair in 2023

Share

BRITAIN-US-MUSIC-CRIME-COURT
R&B singer Chris Brown arrives at Southwark Crown Court. Picture: Getty

By Flaminia Luck

R&B singer Chris Brown has pleaded guilty to affray after a bottle attack at a central London club.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The 37-year-old had been facing trial later this year after he hit a former friend twice over the head with a bottle on the dancefloor at the Tape private members’ club in Mayfair in 2023.

On Friday at Southwark Crown Court, a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Abraham Diaw was dropped along with two charges of possessing an offensive weapon – a bottle – in a public place and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.

Police released this mugshot of Chris Brown after he pleaded guilty to affray
Police released this mugshot of Chris Brown after he pleaded guilty to affray. Picture: Metropolitan Police

Brown was charged along with his vocal coach, Omololu Akinlolu, 40, who had also denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm and has now pleaded guilty to affray.

The pair will be sentenced on October 26 for the affray charge.

US singer Chris Brown arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London
US singer Chris Brown arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London. Picture: Getty

'Vicious and unprovoked'

Claire Campbell, Senior Crown Prosecutor in CPS London South, said: “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.”

The singer, wearing a tan suit, gold-rimmed sunglasses and a St Louis Cardinals baseball hat, was flanked by security guards as he arrived at court, where a small group of fans had gathered.

At earlier hearings, Brown was ordered to pay a £5 million security fee as part of his bail conditions, which also allowed him to go on a world tour as long as he surrendered his passport on arrival in each country.

He was released on bail again on Friday.