Amy Winehouse‘s father claims there is evidence of ‘suspicious circumstances’ surrounding two auctions in which her friends sold her personal property, the High Court has been told.
Mitch Winehouse, acting as administrator of his daughter’s estate, is suing stylist Naomi Parry and Catriona Gourlay for more than £730,000 over claims they profited from selling the singer’s belongings.
Mr Winehouse alleges the two women sent ‘various items of personal property owned by Amy during her lifetime’ to auctions in 2021 and last year – although they oppose the claim.
At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, Ms Parry and Ms Gourlay were ordered to provide more information to Mr Winehouse in relation to their defence that 156 disputed items were either gifted to them by the performer or were never owned by her.
The two women’s lawyers previously said Mr Winehouse had not shown that the items in the case belonged to his daughter’s estate nor that he was entitled to sue.
Mitch Winehouse (left) with his daughter Amy Winehouse (right) at the Novello Awards in 2008
Stylist Naomi Parry (left) and Catriona Gourlay (right) are being sued for more than £730,000 over claims they profited from selling Amy Winehouse’s personal property
They deny ‘wrongfully’ acquiring any items, saying they would ‘frequently lend’ the singer, who died in 2011 aged 27, items amid their shared interest in ‘fashion and style’.
The two women were Amy’s former flatmates in London and supported her as she battled her demons, as detailed in the 2021 documentary Reclaiming Amy.
Even Mitch acknowledged their close bond, telling the BBC: ‘Catriona and Amy, they were sisters. They were more than best friends.’
Catriona claims to have been in an intimate relationship with Amy and said: ‘She used to write notes while I was sleeping, saying things like, “You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” and, “How can you look as beautiful asleep as you do awake?”
‘Our relationship was so unique. Undefined. We just loved each other very much.’
The tight-knit trio shared everything – and Naomi and Catriona insist that they were ‘generously gifted’ various items by their friend over her lifetime – including the famous black and lime halter-neck dress which Amy wore to her last performance in Serbia.
The bamboo dress was subsequently sold at an auction in 2011.
The court was told of additional items, sold through an American auction house, including dresses from Ms Winehouse’s cancelled 2011 tour, a Fendi bracelet and bag, make-up and other clothing.
Catriona Gourley and Amy ‘were sisters’, said her father Mitch Winehouse. ‘They were more than best friends’
It later ‘came as a very considerable surprise’ that Ms Parry and Ms Gourlay had sold 49 items at the 2021 auction. A black and green dress designed by Ms Parry and worn by Amy Winehouse (left) for her final stage performance was included in the auction (right)
James Fennemore, for Mr Winehouse, said: ‘There is evidence of suspicious circumstances surrounding these auctions.’
‘It’s the claimant’s case that he was told by the defendants that they only intended to consign a small number of personal mementos,’ he said and ‘nothing like the scale’ of items sold.
In written arguments, Mr Fennemore said Ms Parry had previously raised with Mr Winehouse the prospect of items being sold at auction in benefit of the Amy Winehouse Foundation charity set up after the singer’s death.
It later ‘came as a very considerable surprise’ that Ms Parry had sold 49 items at the 2021 auction totalling 878,183 US dollars (about £682,000) and Ms Gourlay had sold 91 items, for a total of 334,113 dollars (about £259,000), the court was told.
Mr Fennemore said Mr Winehouse was ‘never told that they purported to own, and intended to sell, items of the nature and scale that transpired’.
Further items were sold at the 2023 auction for a combined 27,690 dollars (about £21,500), he added.
Beth Grossman, for Ms Parry, said Mr Winehouse had already received ‘extensive’ information which was ‘sufficient’ to prevent any ‘hampering’ of his case.
In written arguments, the barrister said the singer’s father had ‘considerably greater funds available for this litigation’ and that the ‘burden of proof’ was on him over possession of the items.
A lawyer argued that Ms Parry had previously raised with Mr Winehouse (pictured) the prospect of items being sold at auction in benefit of the Amy Winehouse Foundation charity set up after the singer’s death
Amy Winehouse (pictured) died on July 23 2011. After two inquests, her cause of death was revealed to be accidental by way of alcohol poisoning.
She said the request for information was ‘unnecessary at this juncture and unfocused’.
Ms Grossman added: ‘The relevant incidents all took place many years ago, in some cases around 20 years ago; Ms Winehouse has sadly been deceased since 2011, and concern exchanges between women who were close friends.
‘This is not a claim arising in a corporate or particularly formal context: the very nature of personal interactions such as this is that there is unlikely to be a large amount of documentary evidence and it is likely that memories may have faded in certain respects.’
Judge Simon Brown granted Mr Winehouse’s request for further information, concluding that what had previously be provided by the defendants was ‘too vague’.
Ms Winehouse’s estate is seeking £534,192.90 in damages from Ms Parry while also claiming £198,041.07 from Ms Gourlay.
But Ms Parry and Ms Gourlay deny that Mr Winehouse is ‘entitled to restitution of the value of the disputed items’.
Amy Winehouse died on July 23 2011. After two inquests, her cause of death was revealed to be accidental by way of alcohol poisoning.
Janis Winehouse (left), Amy Winehouse (centre) and Mitch Winehouse (right) pictured together at Riverside Studios in London in 2008
Mitch Winehouse wipes away tears as he and his wife Janis pay their respects to their daughter on July 23, 2024
Amy Winehouse is laid to rest in Edgware, North London
Her 2006 album, Back To Black, made her an international star and won five Grammys, including record of the year and song of the year for Rehab.
It was the 13th anniversary of the singer’s death and Mr Winehouse was spotted with his wife Janis at their daughter’s grave in Edgware, London.
Ms Parry and Ms Gourlay are both named on the singer’s pink and black headstone.
