Amy Winehouse’s father, Mitch Winehouse, will have to pay nearly £1m to his late daughter's friends who auctioned off possessions she had gifted them after the High Court rejected allegations that they hid the sales from him.
Winehouse had given 155 items - including clothes and makeup - to her friend Catriona Gourlay and stylist Naomi Parry and, since her death from alcohol poisoning aged 27 in 2011, they have sold them, pocketing around £1m, as reported by The Guardian.
Mitch subsequently brought a High Court case against the pair, with his lawyers contending that they “took advantage” of him being forgetful and that they had no right to sell the items.
However, Gourlay and Parry were found by Judge Sarah Clarke to have not hidden anything from Mitch, with the court finding that he “knew all along” about the fact they intended to sell the items and nonetheless made ‘unfounded allegations’ against them.
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 fact that he knowingly and deliberately did this to two young women who had stood faithfully by Amy… makes his unreasonable conduct particularly serious.”
Mitch has now been ordered to pay £950,000 in costs to the women.
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.