Justin Bieber Pleads Guilty to Assault, Careless Driving in Canadian Case

Justin Bieber pleaded
guilty Thursday to
assault and careless
driving for a 2014
incident in which he
drove an ATV into a
minivan of paparazzi,
the Toronto Star reports .
Appear
ing via video link
in a Stratford, Ontario,
courtroom from his
lawyer's office in L.A.,
the artist was tight-
lipped and reportedly
declined to speak before being sentenced.
Bieber received an absolute discharge for the
assault and a $750 fine for the careless
driving, according to the Star. "The lesson in
all of this is to think before you act," Justice
Kathryn McKerlie said. "Everybody in life, no
matter who they are, encounters difficult and
disappointing and surprising situations." The
singer narrowly avoided a dangerous driving
charge.
"That brings to an end the incidents of Aug.
29, 2014 that led to the charges relating to the
photographers in Stratford," Bieber's lawyer
Brian Greenspan said in a statement,
according to CTV News . "The resolution was a
result of a thorough examination by the
Crown, an evaluation that this matter was a
very, very short-lived and spontaneous issue.
It was a response to the invasion of privacy by
the photographers involved." At the time of the
incident, Bieber was enjoying some rest and
relaxation on an ATV with then-girlfriend
Selena Gomez when they were disrupted by
paparazzi. Bieber reportedly reacted by
striking the paparazzi's van with his ATV,
approaching the passenger window of the van,
and swinging at one of the photogs to scare
them off. (The paparazzi involved in the case
pleaded guilty earlier to trespassing on Papa
Bieber's property and were fined.) CTV notes
that Bieber's guilty plea comes weeks before
the case was set to go to