N-Dubz star avoids jail over brawl (From Andover Advertiser)

N-Dubz star avoids jail over brawl

12:19pm Friday 15th February 2013 in National News © Press Association 2013

N-Dubz rapper Dappy broke down in tears and shouted 'Yes' after he avoided a jail term when he was sentenced for assault and affray.

The singer was given a six-month sentence suspended for 18 months at Guildford Crown Court and ordered to do 150 hours community service. He was also ordered to pay £4,500 compensation and £2,000 in costs.

The 25-year-old had faced a maximum sentence of three years imprisonment after being convicted in connection with a brawl at a petrol station in Guildford.

The court heard during a nine-day trial last month that the pop star became angry and violent after two teenaged women "disrespected" him by refusing to get into his car to go to a party at his recording studios, sparking the fight which led to three men being injured.

The trial was told that Dappy, charged under his real name of Costadinos Contostavlos, was out on February 27 last year celebrating the release of his single Rockstar featuring Queen guitarist Brian May.

After spending the night in the VIP area of the Casino nightclub in Guildford drinking sambuca shots and Jack Daniels, the group headed back in three cars to the recording studios in Godalming, where Dappy was recording his debut solo album. The group stopped at the Shell garage in Woodbridge Road, Guildford, at about 3.30am on February 28 where the violence erupted.

Brian Stork, prosecuting, said Dappy approached the two 19-year-olds, Grace Cochran and Serena Burton, sitting on the kerb outside the station shop and tried to persuade them to get into the car with him. They refused these advances and began to ridicule him by calling him "boring",

He told the court: "They had shown me disrespect, a lot." Dappy denied swearing and spitting at them and was found not guilty of two charges of common assault in relation to the spitting.

Mr Stork said a man called David Jenkins, who had been talking to the two women, stepped in to protect them but was spat at by Dappy. This spitting, which hit Mr Jenkins, made up the charge of assault by beating for which Dappy was convicted.

Paul Greaney, defending Dappy, said a prison term would bring an end to his career as a singer: "It is inevitable now that he will not be able to visit or work in America. Furthermore, as a result of the convictions, certain important radio stations will not play his records. His earning capacity now is extremely limited and those responsible for his management believe a period of custody will bring his career to an end."