Amy Winehouse’s father Mitch loses claim against late singer’s friends over sale of her belongings

The legendary artist died at the age of 27 at her Camden home in 2011, and Mitch, acting as the administrator of his daughter’s estate, claimed last year that her stylist Naomi Parry and friend Catriona Gourlay had profited from selling dozens of her items at auctions in the US in 2021 and 2023.

Suing them for hundreds of thousands of pounds at the High Court, his lawyers said in December that they did not inform him they were selling the items, and said the legal proceedings were his “only means of obtaining answers”.

Both Parry and Gourlay defended the claim, with their barristers telling the court the items were either gifted to them personally by Amy, or that they already owned them.

In a judgment handed down on Monday (April 20), Deputy High Court judge Sarah Clarke KC said: “I find that neither Ms Parry nor Ms Gourlay deliberately concealed any of their disputed items from the claimant and even if I am wrong about that, Mr Winehouse could have discovered what disputed items the defendants had with reasonable diligence,” reports Sky News.

In a statement shared this afternoon, Parry said that the High Court had cleared her name “unequivocally and in full, after years of deeply damaging and unfounded allegations” brought by Mitch.

“I stood beside Amy as a friend, a creative partner, and her costume designer,” she said. “What we shared was built on trust, loyalty, and a genuine love of the work. To see that relationship misrepresented so publicly has been both painful and profoundly unjust.”

She said defending the claim had taken a toll on her health and work, telling fans on Instagram that her focus would now be on rebuilding her “life and career, and protecting my name, the work I created with Amy, and her legacy,” she added.

The decision has been celebrated by the Camden pub the Hawley Arms, who commented under Parry’s recent post – in which she thanked her lawyers, fans and Kelly Osbourne for standing by her throughout the legal battle.

It comes after Amy’s legacy was recently nodded to at the 2026 BRIT Awards. This year’s ceremony was held in February, and saw Grammy-winning producer and DJ Mark Ronson honoured with the Outstanding Contribution Award.

It was given to him for his efforts producing various multi-platinum tracks, including Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’ and ‘Valerie’, Bruno Mars’ ‘Uptown Funk’, Dua Lipa’s ‘Electricity’, and Miley Cyrus’ ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’.

During his acceptance speech, Ronson reflected on meeting Winehouse, and said that writing ‘Back To Black’ was a day that “changed my life forever.”