Singer Dappy found guilty, faces jail term for assault
Former N-Dubz singer Dappy faces jail after being found guilty of assaulting a man at a nightclub.
The 27-year-old, who was tried under his real name Costadinos Contostavlos, was found guilty of punching Devonn Reid on the dance floor of Evissa nightclub in Reading on October 6 last year.
The singer committed the offence while serving a six-month suspended sentence for a previous affray and assault, which could now be activated.
District Judge Davinder Lachhar told Reading Magistrates’ Court: “Custody is a realistic prospect as far as this case is concerned in light of his record.”
The court heard the fight broke out because Contostavlos began chatting to Mr Reid’s female friend and girlfriend at the club’s bar, and that the singer punched him after Mr Reid told him not to talk to them.
Describing the lead up to the incident, Mr Reid said he and his friends were on the dance floor when Contostavlos approached them and asked them if they had a problem before offering them a drink.
Mr Reid said he later saw his friend Marie O’Reilly and his girlfriend Cydney Webb chatting with Contostavlos at the bar, that the singer had his arm around Ms O’Reilly and Mr Reid thought he was flirting with them.
Mr Reid told the court: “He said something and I said, ’what’, and I turned to look at him and that is when he hit me straight on the nose.”
Mr Reid added: “He had just turned and hit me straight with his right hand.
“After that we just gone. Bouncers came and grabbed him, I have gone to the toilet to clean myself up. He had popped my nose.”
After returning upstairs Mr Reid was thrown out of the nightclub before being arrested when he became aggressive to door staff and police.
He was later released without charge.
