Justin Bieber absent at court proceeding, fans show up anyway

Justin Bieber didn't attend a court proceeding Monday related to an assault charge he faces in Toronto, but that didn't prevent his fans from showing up.

About a dozen young women gathered at a downtown courthouse hoping the Canadian pop sensation would at least be looped in via a video link although that didn't happen either.

Instead, a subsequent hearing was set for April 14 another proceeding Bieber isn't obliged to attend in person.

Police allege Bieber hit a limousine driver several times in the back of the head after he and five others were picked up by a limo in the early hours of Dec. 30.

Bieber turned himself in to Toronto police in January to face the charge, drawing a crowd of jostling journalists and deliriously screaming fans.

The 19-year-old Stratford, Ont., native was charged with one count of assault and spent about two hours in the station before slipping out a back exit.