Winehouse pleads guilty to assault
Source: Agencies |
January 21, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
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AMY Winehouse admits it went beyond seasonal spirit.
The soul diva pleaded guilty yesterday to assaulting a theater manager who asked her to leave a family Christmas show starring Mickey Rooney because she had too much to drink.
The singer, whose scrapes with the law often overshadow her music, was given a fine and a warning to stay out of trouble by a judge who praised her for trying to clean up her act.
District Judge Peter Crabtree ordered Winehouse to pay her victim 185 pounds (US$300) in costs and compensation, and handed down a conditional discharge, meaning the singer will avoid further punishment as long as she does not commit any more offenses for two years. "(That) may be harder than a fine, because you have now got to stay on the straight and narrow for the next two years," the judge said. "If you commit another offense you'll be hit hard and you'll be hit twice."
A scrum of photographers met Winehouse as she arrived at Milton Keynes Magistrates Court, 80 kilometers north of London.
The 26-year-old singer admitted charges of disorder and common assault during a December 19 performance of the pantomime "Cinderella," in which 89-year-old Rooney played the heroine's father, Baron Hardup. The petite singer had earlier admitted drinking five vodka and cola drinks before the show.
Audiences at British pantomimes are traditionally rambunctious but prosecutors said Winehouse's behavior went beyond the usual audience participation.
Prosecution lawyer Julian Vickery said Winehouse had been "raising her voice in the spirit of the pantomime" during the show at Milton Keynes Theater. She "accepted in interview that some members of the audience may have found her disorderly," he said.
The attorney said Winehouse was moved to a private box for the second half of the show, but later left the auditorium to go to the toilet and, passing the bar, asked manager Richard Pound for a double vodka and Coke. Vickery said Winehouse felt "hurt, embarrassed and patronized" when Pound suggested she have a glass of water instead and then asked her to leave because she had had too much to drink.
He said Winehouse "with no premeditation, grabbed his hair and pulled." She also was overheard muttering obscenities.
The soul diva pleaded guilty yesterday to assaulting a theater manager who asked her to leave a family Christmas show starring Mickey Rooney because she had too much to drink.
The singer, whose scrapes with the law often overshadow her music, was given a fine and a warning to stay out of trouble by a judge who praised her for trying to clean up her act.
District Judge Peter Crabtree ordered Winehouse to pay her victim 185 pounds (US$300) in costs and compensation, and handed down a conditional discharge, meaning the singer will avoid further punishment as long as she does not commit any more offenses for two years. "(That) may be harder than a fine, because you have now got to stay on the straight and narrow for the next two years," the judge said. "If you commit another offense you'll be hit hard and you'll be hit twice."
A scrum of photographers met Winehouse as she arrived at Milton Keynes Magistrates Court, 80 kilometers north of London.
The 26-year-old singer admitted charges of disorder and common assault during a December 19 performance of the pantomime "Cinderella," in which 89-year-old Rooney played the heroine's father, Baron Hardup. The petite singer had earlier admitted drinking five vodka and cola drinks before the show.
Audiences at British pantomimes are traditionally rambunctious but prosecutors said Winehouse's behavior went beyond the usual audience participation.
Prosecution lawyer Julian Vickery said Winehouse had been "raising her voice in the spirit of the pantomime" during the show at Milton Keynes Theater. She "accepted in interview that some members of the audience may have found her disorderly," he said.
The attorney said Winehouse was moved to a private box for the second half of the show, but later left the auditorium to go to the toilet and, passing the bar, asked manager Richard Pound for a double vodka and Coke. Vickery said Winehouse felt "hurt, embarrassed and patronized" when Pound suggested she have a glass of water instead and then asked her to leave because she had had too much to drink.
He said Winehouse "with no premeditation, grabbed his hair and pulled." She also was overheard muttering obscenities.
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