TWO pals of Amy Winehouse “concealed” the fact they made money at two auctions of her memorabilia that raised almost £1million, her dad Mitch claimed yesterday.
The star’s bloodied ballet pumps, a card from Adele and Mark Ronson and a Fendi bracelet were among 155 lots.
Mitch, 75, the administrator of his daughter’s estate, claims stylist Naomi Parry and Amy’s best pal Catriona Gourlay owe more than £730,000.
He claims Amy’s pals “deliberately concealed” they were making money from items sold in the auctions, which he believed were to raise funds solely for Amy’s estate and charity.
He alleges the disputed items were “owned by the estate” when sold and is seeking damages.
Court documents show a first auction in November 2021 made about £941,000 before a second sale in May 2023 raised around £21,500.
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Ms Parry and Ms Gourlay, both 41, deny wrongfully acquiring the personal mementos, insisting they were gifts from Amy or they had lent them to the singer.
The retired taxi driver took the stand yesterday on Monday afternoon when the four-day trial into his civil claim opened at London’s Royal Courts of Justice.
He accepted there were “quite a lot of examples” of Amy gifting items and she may have hidden others due to his vocal concerns about how much she was giving away.
He agreed Amy was generous but when they told him they were “parting with a few things” it “drastically downplayed the true position”.
Mr Winehouse, wearing a navy suit, added: “I’m sure there were times when Amy gifted them items.
“It was characteristic of Amy.
“I assume as they were so close that Amy would have given them some things but 150 items, I just can’t believe it.”
Both deny wrongfully acquiring the mementos, claiming they were gifts or lent to Amy.
The items included a £20,000 watch Amy gave to a friend’s mum after a show in Birmingham and a guitar to teen musician and goddaughter Dionne Bromfield.
She also allowed childhood friend Juliette Ashby to live rent free in East Finchley and “inadvertently” gave pal Tyler James £50,000 when she misheard him ask for £15,000.
Her kindness was also highlighted by famous pals including Kelly Osbourne and Sadie Frost, who both recalled Amy giving clothes to Ms Parry and Ms Gourlay.
Ozzy Osbourne’s daughter Kelly said she also received clothes from Amy, adding in a written statement: “This is quite common amongst close female friends.”
Dracula actress Sadie remembered Amy giving her an “expensive designer dress by Fendi”.
She added: “I think she probably did so as she felt bad about not returning various items that I had lent to her over time.”
Mr Winehouse believed all 834 total items being sold from a London storage unit were on behalf of the Amy Winehouse estate.
It was marketed as a “single owner” auction by Amy’s family to benefit her foundation and didn’t mention other sellers.
Mr Winehouse discovered the defendants were selling items when his wife Jane spotted “a few handwritten notes and photographs”.
He believed they were donating the items to help raise money for the Foundation and wouldn’t pocket the proceeds.
He claims the defendants and the auction house “were making concerted efforts to conceal their claims to ownership” of the 155 disputed items.
Mitch’s skeleton argument included messages between Ms Parry and auctioneer Mr Julian where they talk about how Mr Winehouse “thinks he owns” a dress.
He claims Ms Parry sold 60 items for £675,567 and Ms Gourlay sold 95 items for £253,527.
An article in The Sun was also highlighted where Amy donated bin bags full of £20,000 worth of designer dresses to a charity shop in March 2011.
Ms Parry was friends with Amy before working freelance as her self-employed stylist by “providing clothes and often helping her dress for occasions”.
Beth Grossman KC, for Ms Parry, said: “Ms Parry’s case is that on some occasions she loaned items to Amy and on other occasions Amy gifted items to her.”
Mr Winehouse accepts Ms Parry had lent Amy one of the originally contested items, a Karen Millen dress, as it was a birthday present from her mum.
Ms Grossman claimed Amy had allowed Ms Parry to keep some dresses in return for designing £1,000 custom-made pieces for the singer’s 2010 collaboration with Fred Perry.
Ms Gourlay worked at vintage clothes shop Rockit and bonded with Amy aged 19 in 2002 over their “shared love of fashion”.
She lived with the singer at Jeffreys Place, Camden, between 2004 and 05 before being nextdoor neighbours in Hackney Wick from 2007 to 08.
Ted Loveday, representing Ms Gourlay, claimed their “close interactions included swapping and sharing items”.
Amy’s brother Alex, his wife Riva and Mr Winehouse’s second wife Jane, managing trustee and co-founder of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, are due to give evidence.
Darren Julien, founder of Julien’s Auctions which sold the items in LA’s Beverly Hills, will be cross-examined via video link from California, US.
Valerie hitmaker Amy Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning aged 27 at her flat in Camden, North London, in 2011.
The High Court civil trial goes on.
