Mitch Winehouse, the father of the late singer Amy Winehouse, is suing two former friends of hers for more than £730,000, claiming that they profited from selling her personal property at an auction.
The ‘Back in Black’ and ‘Valerie’ singer died at the age of 27 in 2011. Following two protracted inquests, it was discovered that her cause of death was accidental alcohol poisoning. Three documentary films have since been made about her life: 2015’s Amy, 2018’s Amy Winehouse: Back to Black and 2021’s Reclaiming Amy.
According to High Court documents revealed this week (per Sky News), Mitch Winehouse has brought a suit against Naomi Parry and Catriona Gourlay in light of his role as the administrator of his daughter’s estate. News of a suit was previously reported by various outlets early last month, but it is only now that the amount of damages the estate is seeking has been revealed.
The document alleges that the pair sold “various items of personal property owned by Amy during her lifetime” at two auctions in 2021 and earlier this year. It also claims that by putting the pieces up for sale “in their own names and on their own behalf” the women “converted” the late performer’s property “to their own use”.
Accordingly, Mitch Winehouse is seeking £534,192.90 in damages from Parry and £198,041.07 from Gourlay.
The statement originally issued by the Amy Winehouse Estate in November said: “In 2021, Amy’s estate auctioned items from her life and career with 30% of the proceeds going to the Amy Winehouse Foundation.”
It continued: “Two individuals sold a number of items at that auction and have retained the proceeds: the items were all Amy related. This year they have put more Amy-related items up for auction and together the two auctions have generated six figure sums for each of them. The estate has questioned how these items came into their possession and has not had satisfactory answers.”
Concluding: “The estate has therefore launched a legal process to clarify the situation. The Amy Winehouse Foundation will directly benefit if monies are recovered from either defendant.”
In other Amy Winehouse news, the enlightening book Amy Winehouse: In Her Own Words, a collection of handwritten notes and stories about her life, arrived earlier this year.
