Bieber pleads guilty to assault
Pop star Justin Bieber pleaded guilty Thursday to assault and careless driving, but will not go to jail over a collision with paparazzi in the Canadian countryside last year.
File picture: Justin Bieber attends Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring 2014 at SuperPier 25 on September 8, 2013 in New York City
A court official told AFP Bieber must pay a Can$750 (US$600) fine for careless driving.
A more serious charge of dangerous driving, however, was withdrawn, while Bieber received an absolute discharge for the assault, meaning he was found guilty but no conviction will show up on his record.
The crash occured in September near his hometown of Stratford, Ontario where Bieber was visiting family with his on-and-off-again girlfriend Selena Gomez.
Bieber, 21, was accused of ramming his All-Terrain Vehicle into a minivan driven by a photographer and then getting into a “physical altercation” with the driver, according to police.
Local media said Bieber and Gomez had been taking turns driving the ATV while the other sat on the back.
The couple had been on a quiet retreat in Stratford “that was unfortunately disrupted by the unwelcome presence of paparazzi,” said his lawyer Brian Greenspan.
Bieber once enjoyed a squeaky clean image but has more recently had frequent run-ins with the law, including for drag racing and throwing eggs at his neighbor’s home.
