Amy Winehouse’s closest friends, Naomi Parry and Catriona Gourlay, have faced the late singer’s dad, Mitch, in court, after he accused them of auctioning off the star’s personal property
Amy Winehouse’s dad has faced the singer’s closest friends in court. Mitch, a former London cab driver, accused Naomi Parry and Catriona Gourlay of selling the late musician’s personal items.
The pair, who were often seen with Amy, are being sued for the sum of £730,000. They both deny the allegations made against them. Today, a trial commenced at the Royal Courts of Justice and is expected to last several days. Mitch is suing both Perry and Gourlay in his capacity as the executor of Amy’s estate.
Two friends of Amy Winehouse “deliberately concealed” that they sold dozens of her personal items at auction after her death, barristers for the singer’s father told the High Court.
Henry Legge KC, for Mr Winehouse, said in written submissions that the items included a silk mini-dress worn by Ms Winehouse in her final performance in Belgrade, Serbia, which Ms Parry auctioned for 243,200 US dollars (£182,656) in 2021.
He said: “Ms Parry and Ms Gourlay deliberately concealed from Mr Winehouse the fact that they were auctioning the items consigned by them to the 2021 auction and that they were claiming ownership of those items.”
He continued that Mr Winehouse believed that all the 834 items in the 2021 auction catalogue were owned by the estate, but that the two women were “asserting ownership of over 150”.
The barrister also said that Ms Parry was “instrumental in persuading Mr Winehouse to auction the estate’s items”, but did not tell him that she “stood to gain from his agreeing to do so”.
Mr Legge said that after Ms Winehouse’s death, Mr Winehouse was approached by Darren Julien, of Julien’s Auctions in Los Angeles, in 2014 regarding an auction of her belongings, which Mr Winehouse initially declined.
Mr Julien then contacted Ms Parry, who indicated that she would be willing to sell “my collection” in 2018, with Ms Gourlay indicating she would be willing to sell items in 2019, Mr Legge said. Mr Winehouse then agreed to auction items in 2021, which raised around 1.4 million dollars (£1.05 million) for the estate, with 30% of the proceeds going to the Amy Winehouse Foundation.
But Mr Legge said that Mr Julien “did not take steps to correct Mr Winehouse’s obvious impression that all lots belonged to and were being sold by the estate”. The barrister also said that Mr Julien told Ms Parry in a text message after the auction: “I do think he will go a little nuts when he realises all the big pieces were yours”.
He continued that both women then sold further items at a second auction in May 2023. Giving evidence on Monday, Mr Winehouse said: “I assume that, being so close, Amy would have given them some things, but 150 items, I just cannot believe it.”
At a hearing in July last year, the High Court was told that there was evidence of “suspicious circumstances” surrounding two Amy Winehouse auctions. Mitch, who is an executor of Amy’s estate, claims that Naomi and Catriona sent “various items of personal property owned by Amy during her lifetime” to auctions in 2021 and in 2023.
During the hearing, both Naomi and Catriona were instructed to provide more evidence to Winehouse in relation to the 156 disputed items which were gifted to them by the Back to Black songstress or were never owned outright by Ms Winehouse.
Both Naomi and Catriona deny the allegations and deny “wrongfully” acquiring items and said that they would “frequently lend” Amy items due to their love for “fashion and style”.
Items sold via a US auction included dresses from Amy’s cancelled tour in 2011, a Fendi bracelet and bag, make-up and other items of clothing.
In February 2024, both Naomi and Catriona shared on social media that they were gifted items by Amy during her life for over “a decade”. They also claimed they spoke about them in the press and to “Mr Winehouse himself.”
They also stated that their “ownership was never questioned until they were sold.” After their various projects, including Beyond Black – The Life and Style of Amy Winehouse and several exhibitions, they said that they made the decision to auction some of the collection titled Property from the Life and Career of Amy Winehouse, which they said was in “collaboration with Amy’s estate”.
It’s claimed that Naomi and Catriona’s decision to put the items up for sale in “their own names and on their own behalf” converted Amy’s property to “their own use”. Mitch is seeking £534,192.90 in damages from Naomi and £198,041.07 from Catriona.
Beth Grossman for Naomi said that Mitch had received “extensive” information, which was “sufficient” to prevent any “hampering” of his case. She added that Mitch had “considerably greater funds available for this litigation”. 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.”
Meanwhile, James Fennemore for Mitch said that the case would “primarily involve and turn on a detailed scrutiny of the defendants’ case in respect of the circumstances in which they say the items came by them.” He added that there was “little or no detail about the circumstances of the alleged gifts” and there was “evidence of suspicious circumstances surrounding these auctions.”
Amy tragically died aged 27 on July 23, 2011, at her home in Camden, north London. Following two inquests into her death, her cause of death was ruled to be accidental by the way of alcohol poisoning.
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