Amy Winehouse’s dad ordered to pay nearly £1million to her pals after claiming they secretly flogged star’s possessions

AMY Winehouse’s dad has been ordered to pay nearly £1million to her pals after claiming they had secretly flogged his daughter’s possessions. Mitch Winehouse also racked up at least £950,000 in his own legal costs in the failed bid against Naomi Parry and Catriona Gourlay. Amy Winehouse’s father must pay under £1million to two of his daughter’s friends after a failed High Court claim Credit: Reuters Mitch Warehouse also racked up £950,000 in legal costs Credit: Steve Bell Mitch Winehouse, the administrator of his daughter’s estate, had taken both to court claiming they owed him more than £730,000. He claimed the women had profited from selling dozens of Ms Winehouse’s items at auctions in the US in 2021 and 2023, accusing them of having “deliberately concealed” their sale. Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter Thank you! The star’s bloodied ballet pumps, a card from Adele and Mark Ronson and a Fendi bracelet were among 155 lots sold at auction following her death. But Judge Sarah Clarke KC threw out the claim earlier this year, finding that he “knew all along“ about the intended sale and only afterwards began to pursue them for money in an “aggressive and unpleasant way”. He claimed stylist Naomi Parry (pictured) and Amy’s best pal Catriona Gourlay owed more than £730,000 Credit: Steve Bell Both denied wrongfully acquiring the mementos, claiming they were gifts or lent to Amy (pictured: Catriona Gourlay) Credit: Steve Bell Judges were previously told the items were sold at auctions in the United States in 2021 and 2023. The court heard how the catalogue contained 834 items and that the sale raised £1.05million for the Amy Winehouse estate, with 30 per cent going to the foundation. One item included a silk mini-dress worn by Amy during her final performance in Belgrade, Serbia, which sold for £182,656. Naomi told the court Mitch had offered her £187,000 for the proceeds of her sale and to make the legal claim go away, but she said she would “rather set the money on fire than give him a penny”. Most read in Showbiz In a judgement on Wednesday, Judge Clarke said: “The claimant chose to bring an inherently weak claim, pursue it aggressively and relentlessly to the end, and make serious and unfounded allegations against the defendants which significantly damaged their reputations, career prospects, financial security and health.” The judge said that, as of April, Ms Parry’s costs were estimated to be £715,361 while Ms Gourlay’s were £487,132. She ordered Mr Winehouse to pay interim payments to each of the women – £569,330 to Ms Parry and £394,521 to Ms Gourlay – within the next two weeks. Judge Clarke said that in pursuing his claim, Mr Winehouse had “deliberately turned this case into large-scale and expensive litigation, in circumstances calculated to exert commercial pressure on the defendants to settle on his terms”. He also wanted to expand his claim “very late in the day”, which led to the six-day trial in December and January overrunning by three days, while he “actively courted publicity for his serious allegations, including in the press and in court when he knew the press were present”. Judge Clarke said: “This deliberate course of action was undertaken by the claimant with the aim of damaging the defendants’ reputations and professional prospects in order to force them to settle the litigation on his terms and pay him the proceeds of sale of their items. “He did so, knowing that they were vulnerable both financially and in status, and that his public allegations and insinuations of impropriety would only increase their vulnerability. Naomi claimed she thought the Winehouse family knew about the auctionCredit: Not known clear with Picture Desk Amy’s pals insist she was very generous, and they often loaned her things as well Credit: Getty “The fact that he knowingly and deliberately did this to two young women who had stood faithfully by Amy, and also by him and his family, and who had demonstrated their honesty and integrity over many years, makes his unreasonable conduct particularly serious.” She continued: “I find that the defendants were fully entitled to defend their personal and professional reputations to the end, and that they had no other realistic option given the claimant’s serious and damaging allegations, his aggressive conduct throughout, his refusal to accept their explanations, his unrealistic settlement offers and the real risk that he would thereafter be free to continue making public allegations of deceit and dishonesty against them.” Mr Winehouse told a trial in December that the two women did not inform him they were selling the items, and the legal proceedings were his “only means of obtaining answers”. Henry Legge KC, for the dad, previously told the court Mitch believed the women had “deliberately concealed” the fact that they were auctioning items. But Naomi claimed she believed the Winehouse family “knew I was auctioning items”, and that Mitch was made aware of this at a meeting in October 2018. She said she “believed, and still very much believe, that Amy would have wanted me and Catriona to be financially secure” and said the sums sought by Mitch were “inflated”. She said she “believed, and still very much believe, that Amy would have wanted me and Catriona to be financially secure” and said the sums sought by Mitch were “inflated”. Mitch believed all 834 total items being sold from a London storage unit were on behalf of the Amy Winehouse estate. It was marketed as a “single owner” auction by Amy’s family to benefit her foundation and didn’t mention other sellers, he said. He claimed the defendants and the auction house “were making concerted efforts to conceal their claims to ownership” of the 155 disputed items. Rehab singer Amy died of alcohol poisoning aged 27 at her flat in Camden, North London, in 2011.