Amy Winehouse's father is ordered to pay R$6.5 million to the singer's friends

Mitch Winehouse sued Naomi Parry and Catriona Gourlay over the sale of Amy's items at auctions in the US. He alleged that the two profited by selling dozens of objects in 2021 and 2023 and that they hid the sales.

Judge Sarah Clarke KC dismissed the action and said he had known about the plan to sell from the start. According to the judge, only later did Mitch start to charge money from the two in an "aggressive and unpleasant" way.

The most recent decision set provisional payments totaling just under £1 million. Mitch Winehouse will have two weeks to pay £569,330.00 (around R$3.8 million) to Parry and £394,521.00 (R$2.7 million) to Gourlay.

The judge also ordered him to bear the costs of the defendants on an indemnity basis, which usually increases the amount recovered. The judge said he chose to "present an inherently weak claim" and pursued it "aggressively and relentlessly" with "serious and unfounded" allegations that affected their reputation, career, financial security and health.

The process also generated a large bill for Mitch Winehouse himself. According to the ruling, his legal costs reached at least £950,000 (R$6.5 million).

Sarah Clarke said Mitch turned the case into expensive litigation to pressure the defendants into accepting a settlement. "This deliberate action was taken by Plaintiff with the aim of damaging Defendants' reputation and professional prospects in order to force them to resolve the dispute on his terms and pay him the profits from the sale of their items," he wrote.

The judge pointed out that he tried to expand the request at the end of the process and ran over the trial schedule. The attempt, according to her, made the six-day trial, held in December and January, extend for another three.

The decision also mentions that Mitch sought publicity for the accusations when he knew there was press following the case. "He did this knowing that they were vulnerable both financially and in terms of status, and that his public allegations and insinuations of impropriety would only increase their vulnerability," the judge said.

Sarah Clarke highlighted their relationship with the singer and the Winehouse family. "The fact that he knowingly and deliberately did this to two young women who faithfully supported Amy, and also to him and his family, and who demonstrated honesty and integrity over many years, makes his unreasonable conduct particularly serious."