Combs tearfully apologised for his “shameful, disgusting” behaviour just before the sentence was handed down.<\/p>\n
He offered multiple apologies, including to his former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura (known as the singer Cassie), who he was caught on camera physically attacking in a hotel room.<\/p>\n
“I know I’ll never put my hands on another person again,” Combs told Judge Arun Subraniam.<\/p>\n
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But the judge said a lengthy sentence was necessary to send a message to offenders and victims alike that violence against women would be met with real accountability.<\/p>\n
He said Combs’s violence, coercion and abuse had devastating consequences on his two former partners and he was unconvinced that Combs would not reoffend.<\/p>\n
Combs had arranged for paid sexual encounters between his girlfriends and male sex workers at marathon sex parties he called “freak-offs”<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ms Ventura told his eight-week trial that Combs ordered her to have “disgusting” sex with strangers hundreds of times during their decade-long relationship.<\/p>\n After his time in prison, Combs will need to spend another five years under supervised release.<\/p>\n Sean Combs was emotional at various points throughout the hours-long sentencing hearing. (Reuters: Jane Rosenberg)<\/p>\n The prosecution had sought a jail term of 11 years and three months, and a $US500,000 ($758,000) fine. They said Combs had shattered his victims’ lives, and the case had highlighted a pattern of violence that needed appropriate punishment.<\/p>\n But Combs’s lawyers had argued that he had already suffered enough. They requested a sentence of no more than 14 months in prison, meaning he would have been freed almost immediately on time already served.<\/p>\n Combs begs for ‘another chance’<\/p>\n The judge’s decision followed a series of pleas for leniency from Combs, his legal team and his six adult children, who each stood up in court and begged for mercy.<\/p>\n Sean Combs’s children held hands as they arrived at court, where they asked the judge for leniency. (Reuters: Brendan McDermid)<\/p>\n Just before he was sentenced, Combs was given a chance to speak. He broke down in tears and said he had lost all self-respect but: “If you give me another chance, I won’t let you down.”<\/p>\n “I want to thank you for finally giving me a chance to speak up for myself,” he told the judge.<\/p>\n “One of the hardest things I’ve had to handle is to be quiet, not able to express how sorry I am for my actions.”<\/p>\n Sexual assault\u00a0support lines:1800 Respect National Helpline<\/a>: 1800 737 732Lifeline<\/a> (24-hour crisis line): 131 114Full Stop Australia<\/a>: 1800 385 578Bravehearts<\/a>: counselling and support for survivors of child sexual abuse: 1800\u00a0272\u00a0831Child Wise<\/a>: counselling provider: 1800\u00a0991\u00a0099<\/p>\n Combs wrote a letter to the judge as well as addressing the court in person.<\/p>\n Several of his lawyers and a church minister also spoke in support of a shorter sentence.<\/p>\n His legal team played an 11-minute video showing clips of his life before prison, including playing with his children and coaching youth football.<\/p>\n And his children begged the judge to let their father come home.<\/p>\n “We’ve already lost so much,” his 18-year-old daughter, D’Lila Combs, said. “Please, your honour, please, give our family the chance to heal together.”<\/p>\n Cassie’s fears of ‘swift retribution’<\/p>\n But prosecutor Christy Slavik said Combs had not accepted responsibility for his actions and had shown little remorse.<\/p>\n She said Combs had booked speaking engagements in Miami next week in anticipation of a light sentence, which she called “the height of hubris”.<\/p>\n Family and domestic violence support services:<\/p>\n If you need help immediately call emergency services on triple-0<\/p>\n Ms Ventura wrote to the judge, saying she feared retribution for testifying against him.<\/p>\n “My worries that Sean Combs or his associates will come after me and my family is my reality,” she wrote in the letter, which was part of the prosecution’s sentencing submission.<\/p>\n “I have in fact moved my family out of the New York area and am keeping as private and quiet as I possibly can because I am so scared that if he walks free, his first actions will be swift retribution towards me and others who spoke up about his abuse at trial.”<\/p>\n Her lawyers, Douglas Wigdor and Meredith Firetog, released a statement shortly after the sentencing, which said:<\/p>\n “While nothing can undo the trauma caused by Combs, the sentence imposed today recognises the impact of the serious offences he committed.<\/p>\n “We are confident that with the support of her family and friends, Ms Ventura will continue healing knowing that her bravery and fortitude have been an inspiration to so many.”<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A New York judge has sentenced disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs to four years and two months’…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,53461,14004,1108,37380,134,2732,5220,119729,38596,44600,6618],"class_list":["post-188325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cassie","tag-conviction","tag-court","tag-diddy","tag-entertainment","tag-jail","tag-prison","tag-puff-daddy","tag-sean-combs","tag-sentence","tag-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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