BIEBER PLEADS GUILTY
Stratford pop star receives $750 fine in August 2014 attack on photographers,
STRATFORD, ONT.— Justin Bieber pleaded guilty Thursday to assault and careless driving regarding an August 2014 incident in which he drove an ATV into a minivan carrying photographers.
The pop star appeared via video link in a Stratford, Ont., courtroom to admit to the attack on photographers Todd Gillis and Sean O’Neill. Bieber received an absolute discharge on the assault charge and will pay a $750 fine for careless driving plus an automatic surcharge.
A charge of dangerous driving was dropped.
“The lesson in all of this is to think before you act,” said Justice Kathryn McKerlie. “Everybody in life, no matter who they are, encounters difficult and disappointing and surprising situations.”
Bieber, a Stratford native, was mostly silent throughout the proceedings, dressed in a white collared shirt with his hair combed neatly. He declined to speak before being sentenced. McKerlie described how Bieber was “surprised, angry and disappointed” when he encountered O’Neill and Gillis while riding an ATV with his then-girlfriend, singer Selena Gomez.
Rather than turning onto his father’s property, McKerlie said while summarizing the facts of the case, Bieber drove toward the van and struck its right front corner, damaging both vehicles, according to McKerlie. Bieber then approached the passenger window and began swinging at Gillis and grabbing at his camera before the two men left.
The incident is only the latest bit of legal trouble for the pop star. Bieber was charged by Toronto police last year with assault after an incident inside an SUV limousine in the entertainment district in late 2013.
Elsewhere, an Argentine judge is- sued an arrest warrant against Bieber this year after he failed to answer questions regarding an alleged assault of a photographer outside of a nightclub in 2013. Last year, the singer pleaded no contest to vandalism in California and was sentenced probation, community service and paying restitution of $80,000 (U.S.)
Also, after he was pulled over by a Miami Beach, Fla., police officer in 2014, he pleaded guilty to resisting an officer and driving without due care and attention, garnering a fine.