US singer appears in court accused of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm after arrest last month over incident in Mayfair in 2023
Hannah Al-OthmanFri 20 Jun 2025 11.25 BST
The American singer and actor Chris Brown has pleaded not guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm in an alleged bottle attack at a London nightclub.
Brown, 36, is accused of attempting to unlawfully and maliciously cause Abraham Diaw grievous bodily harm with intent at the Tape club in Hanover Square, Mayfair.
At a plea and trial preparation hearing at Southwark crown court on Friday morning, his co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu, a US national, denied the same charge.
Both defendants are further charged with assaulting Diaw, occasioning him actual bodily harm in the incident, on 19 February 2023, and Brown also faces one count of having an offensive weapon – a bottle – in a public place.
They were not asked to enter pleas to those charges, and a further court date was set for 11 July. A five- to seven-day trial was scheduled to start from 26 October 2026.
Brown arrived at court at 9am to a large group of photographers outside and walked in silence to the building’s entrance. About 20 people sat in the public gallery behind the dock, many of them fans of the singer.
The Grammy-winning singer was arrested after flying into the UK for the Breezy Bowl XX tour. He was detained by police at about 2am on 15 May at the five-star Lowry hotel in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Brown was able to continue with his scheduled international tour after he was freed on conditional bail having agreed to pay a £5m security fee to the court.
He performed in Cardiff on Thursday night and is due to play two nights in London this weekend before heading to Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow, followed by dates in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe.
… we have a small favour to ask. Tens of millions have placed their trust in the Guardian’s fearless journalism since we started publishing 200 years ago, turning to us in moments of crisis, uncertainty, solidarity and hope. More than 1.5 million supporters, from 180 countries, now power us financially – keeping us open to all, and fiercely independent. Will you make a difference and support us too?
Unlike many others, the Guardian has no shareholders and no billionaire owner. Just the determination and passion to deliver high-impact global reporting, always free from commercial or political influence. Reporting like this is vital for democracy, for fairness and to demand better from the powerful.
And we provide all this for free, for everyone to read. We do this because we believe in information equality. Greater numbers of people can keep track of the global events shaping our world, understand their impact on people and communities, and become inspired to take meaningful action. Millions can benefit from open access to quality, truthful news, regardless of their ability to pay for it.
Whether you give a little or a lot, your funding will power our reporting for the years to come. If you can, please support us on a monthly basis. It takes less than a minute to set up, and you can rest assured that you’re making a big impact every single month in support of open, independent journalism. Thank you.
