Amy Winehouse’s father ordered to pay nearly £1m to singer’s friends

Mitch Winehouse has been ordered to pay almost £1 million to two of Amy Winehouse's close friends after losing a High Court case over the sale of the late singer's possessions.

According to NME, interim payments of £569,330 must go to Naomi Parry, Amy's former stylist, and £394,521 to her friend Catriona Gourlay within two weeks. Winehouse has also been ordered to cover their legal costs on an indemnity basis.

Acting as the personal representative of his daughter's estate, Winehouse had claimed that Parry and Gourlay profited from selling items linked to the singer at US auctions in 2021 and 2023. He argued the women deliberately concealed their intention to sell the possessions and sought over £700,000 from them. The pair maintained that Amy had either given them the items or that the belongings had already been theirs.

Deputy High Court Judge Sarah Clarke KC dismissed Winehouse's claim in April, finding neither woman had deliberately concealed the disputed items. She concluded he could have discovered which items they possessed through "reasonable diligence" and that he had known about the intended sales before the first auction. In her costs judgment, Clarke found that Winehouse had pursued an "inherently weak claim" both "aggressively and relentlessly", causing significant damage to the women's "reputations, career prospects, financial security and health". She noted his conduct was particularly serious given that Parry and Gourlay had "stood faithfully by Amy" during her life.

The items included a silk minidress worn during Amy's final Belgrade performance in 2011, which sold for $243,200. Winehouse died from accidental alcohol poisoning at age 27 in July 2011.