Chris Brown sentenced for attack

AP

SENTENCED: Chris Brown has been sentenced over his attack on Rihanna.

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A judge sentenced Chris Brown to five years' probation and six months' community labour for the beating of Rihanna and issued a stern admonition to the R&B singer.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg told Brown that he could be sent to state prison if he violated any terms of his sentence, including an order to stay away from Rihanna for the next five years.

Brown will serve his sentence in his home state - Virginia - and his community labour will be overseen by the chief of police in Richmond.

The judge said she wanted to ensure that Brown, 20, performs physical labour instead of community service, such as mentoring young people.

Rihanna did not attend the sentencing.

At one point, Brown, who was accompanied by his mother, agreed to the terms of the sentence before Schnegg had finished going through them all.

The hearing had been planned for Thursday afternoon, but Brown's lawyer, Mark Geragos, asked to move up the singer's sentencing to Tuesday.

A previous attempt to sentence Brown was postponed when Schnegg said she hadn't received adequate assurances that Brown would perform physical labour if allowed to serve probation in Virginia.

The judge said she was satisfied with a letter presented by Geragos that Richmond Police Chief Bryan T Norwood will directly oversee Brown's labour program.

After Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault in June, Schnegg ordered the pair to stay away from each other and to not contact one another. Her order essentially extended that for the next five years.

Donald Etra, Rihanna's attorney, has said he didn't think the strict rules were necessary, but that he and Rihanna favoured a less-stringent ruling that simply ordered Brown not to annoy, harass or molest the 21-year-old pop singer.

Schnegg said she was aware of reports that Brown had been spotted on several occasions in the same places as Rihanna.

"I am not amused with the chatter that has been on the airwaves and any violation of your probation in this case comes with the potential for state prison," Schnegg told Brown.

Brown was arrested February 8, hours after he was accused of beating Rihanna.

The attack occurred in Los Angeles' Hancock Park neighborhood as Brown drove a rented sports car. A Los Angeles police detective described a brutal attack in a search warrant affidavit filed in the case, stating Brown hit, choked and bit Rihanna and tried at one point to push her from the car.

Brown's career suffered after his arrest, with sponsors dropping him and radio stations refusing to play his music. Both he and Rihanna had to cancel several high-profile appearances, including planned performances at the Grammy Awards the day of the attack.

A felony charge of making criminal threats was dropped during the sentencing.

- AP