Chris Brown arrives at court to enter plea over ‘bottle attack’ charge

By Ellie Ng, PA

R&B singer Chris Brown has arrived at court where he is due to enter a plea after he was charged over an alleged bottle attack at a London nightclub.

The American musician, wearing a dark blue suit, walked towards the entrance of Southwark Crown Court in silence past a large group of photographers.

The 36-year-old, accused of causing grievous bodily harm to Abraham Diaw in February 2023, will appear alongside a co-defendant, US national Omololu Akinlolu, 38, for a plea and trial preparation hearing.

The Go Crazy singer, who was able to continue his international tour after he was freed on conditional bail last month, performed in Cardiff on Thursday night.

He had to pay a £5 million security fee to the court as part of the bail agreement, which is a financial guarantee to ensure a defendant returns to court and may be forfeited if they breach bail conditions.

Brown and Akinlolu have been charged over an incident at the Tape venue in Hanover Square, Mayfair, on February 19th, 2023.

Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard last month that Mr Diaw was standing at the bar of the nightclub when he was struck several times with a bottle, and was then pursued to a separate area of the venue where he was punched and kicked repeatedly.

Brown was arrested at Manchester’s Lowry Hotel at 2am on May 15th this year by detectives from the Metropolitan Police.

He is said to have flown into Manchester Airport on a private jet in preparation for the UK tour dates.

He was released from HMP Forest Bank in Salford, Greater Manchester, on May 21st.

Shortly after being released from prison, the musician posted an Instagram story referencing his upcoming tour.

It said: “FROM THE CAGE TO THE STAGE!!! BREEZYBOWL.”