Mitch Winehouse has been ordered to pay nearly £950,000 towards the legal costs of two friends of his late daughter, Amy Winehouse, after his High Court claim against them failed. The ruling ends his attempt, as administrator of her estate, to recover money from the auction sale of her belongings and confirms that the women were entitled to sell the disputed items.

Winehouse sued Amy’s stylist Naomi Parry and friend Catriona Gourlay over items sold at US auctions in 2021 and 2023, alleging that the sales had been concealed and that the proceeds belonged to the estate. The court accepted their evidence that the possessions had either been given to them by Amy Winehouse or already belonged to them; the items included clothing and accessories, and the disputed sales raised about £890,000.