Chris Brown's UK sentencing brings attention to $13 million lawsuit after his 200-pound Caucasian Shepherd mauled housekeeper

US singer Chris Brown is being sentenced over an incident at a nightclub in Mayfair, London in 2023. The victim, music producer Abe Diaw, needed hospital treatment for head and knee injuries, with CCTV showing Brown hitting Diaw on the head with a glass bottle. Chris Brown has been sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 12 months, therefore avoiding jail time.

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Amid the UK sentencing, another incident involving Chris Brown when he was ordered to pay his housekeeper $13 million after she was mauled by his 200- pound dog while at his $6 million California home. Chris Brown was found liable for a dog attack that left his housekeeper mauled and disfigured at his home in 2020.

When Chris Brown was ordered to pay housekeeper $13m

After a two-week trial in Los Angeles, the jury found in favour of Maria Avila. She was reportedly attacked by a 200lb (90kg) Caucasian shepherd owned by Brown while she was emptying the rubbish at his house in Tarzana, California. Avila claimed she was left with several serious injuries following the incident.

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The jury ruled that the 37-year-old "Yo" hitmaker, who has a net worth of $100 million, must pay $12.9 million in damages to Maria Avila, who was brutally attacked by Hades, whom he used as a guard dog.

What happened with Maria Avila?

Recalling the traumatic experience in court, Maria Avila said she had been taking the trash out at the property when she was attacked by the dog. She said Hades tore "large chunks of skin" from her body, causing significant injuries to her arm and her face that required several sutures and skin grafts. Avila also claimed that she has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and nerve damage which has made it difficult for her to work.

Chris Brown, who was at home when the attack occurred, testified that he put the dog in a kennel after it injured his housekeeper. He said the amount of blood at the scene left him “freaked out” and in a state of “shock” when he realized what had happened.

Describing Avila’s injuries, Brown told the jury that the area around her nose and beneath her eye appeared to be severely cut. He gestured towards his own face to demonstrate the affected area.

“It was cut, like, severed,” he said, according to Rolling Stone. “I know it’s graphic, but you could see the skin was kind of raised. You could see the cut and the blood coming out … It was a lot of blood.”

Brown said his security guard called an ambulance but acknowledged that he left the property before emergency responders arrived because he wanted to avoid a potential “media circus.”

“I didn’t want a misleading story, or like a circus, from my status. It’s pretty sticky when it comes to that. So me staying out of the way was advised,” he testified.

The singer also explained that he kept a guard dog at his home because his fame had exposed him to “a lot of stalker-type situations.”

Although Brown acknowledged that his dog, Hades, was “absolutely not” friendly, he claimed he had previously warned his housekeeper about the animal. He alleged that he had told Avila and her sister, Patricia, not to go outside without his permission.

Chris Brown's past troubles

Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown arrived Monday at a London court for sentencing over brawling at a Mayfair nightclub three years ago. Brown, 37, faces up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a count of affray in July for attacking a music producer with a bottle. This summer, Brown pleaded guilty to affray over a 2023 incident in which he attacked a man with a glass bottle at a London nightclub, according to ABC7 New York.

Apart from the widely reported 2009 incident involving Rihanna, Chris Brown has faced several other domestic violence allegations, including from his ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran. In 2017, Tran was granted a restraining order against the singer. Between 2018 and 2022, Brown faced several other allegations of violence against women.

Brown is also facing an active $50 million lawsuit filed by four male concertgoers and involving members of his entourage. The men allege they suffered a “brutal, violent assault” backstage after a concert in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2024, according to People.