Amy Winehouse’s father has lost a court case against two of his daughter’s friends.
Mitch Winehouse has lost a High Court claim against Naomi Parry and Catriona Gourlay, whom he accused of auctioning items once owned by the Back to Black hitmaker.
Acting as the administrator of his daughter’s estate, Winehouse sued Parry and Gourlay, claiming that they had profited from selling dozens of items at auctions in the U.S. in 2021 and 2023.
During the December trial, Winehouse’s lawyers claimed that the two women had “deliberately concealed” their intention to sell the items and that the legal proceedings were his “only means of obtaining answers”.
However, Parry and Gourlay’s lawyers responded by alleging that the items sold at auction were already owned by or gifted to the two women by Amy.
On Monday, Deputy High Court Judge Sarah Clarke KC ruled against Winehouse’s claim.
“I find that neither Ms Parry nor Ms Gourlay deliberately concealed any of their disputed items from the claimant and even if I am wrong about that, Mr Winehouse could have discovered what disputed items the defendants had with reasonable diligence,” she stated.
The judge noted that the singer’s father was “understandably sensitive about anyone who he perceives as exploiting Amy’s memory… but also, in my judgement, he is equally sensitive about ensuring that the family continue to benefit financially.”
She added that Winehouse “likes to dominate people and situations” and described him as an “unreliable witness” who only checked shortly before the trial that he had a valid claim for the items in question.
Amy, best known for hits including Rehab and Valerie, died in 2011 aged 27.
Elsewhere in the ruling, the judge acknowledged the singer’s “extraordinary generosity”, noting that she would “routinely” gift clothing to her friends as she didn’t want to be seen wearing the same outfits more than once.
