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Apr 20
Amy Winehouse's father loses High Court challenge over daughter's former belongings

Winehouse died from alcohol poisoning in July 2011, aged 27. Mitch Winehouse, acting as the administrator of his daughter's estate, claimed her stylist Naomi Parry and friend Catriona Gourlay profited from selling dozens of items at auctions in the US in 2021 and 2023. Suing them for hundreds of thousands of pounds at the High Court, his lawyers told a trial in December that the two women did not inform him they were selling the items. He said the legal proceedings were his "only means of obtaining answers". Ms Parry and Ms Gourlay defended the claim, with their barristers telling the court the items were either gifted by the star or that they already owned them. In a judgment handed down on Monday, 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." What happened in court? During the trial, lawyers for Ms Parry accused Mr Winehouse of bringing the claim out of "petty jealousy", which he denied. He said he thought the money from the 2021 auction would be split between the Amy Winehouse Foundation (AWF), himself, and the singer's mother, Janis. The court heard the auction catalogue contained 834 items and that the sale raised $1.4m dollars (£1.05m) for the star's estate, 30% of which went to the foundation. One item sold by Ms Parry included a silk mini-dress worn during the singer's final performance in Belgrade, Serbia, which was auctioned for $243,200 (£182,656). Ms Parry told the court Mr Winehouse had offered her $250,000 (£187,000) for the proceeds of her sale and to make the legal claim go away, but that she would "rather set the money on fire than give him a penny". Judge Clarke said Mr Winehouse had "suffered a great tragedy in the loss of his daughter", and that since her death he had "worked hard to keep her memory alive" - including through the foundation. "It is also the case that Amy's estate, including in particular the royalties from Back To Black, has made Mr Winehouse personally extremely wealthy," the judge continued. "Mr Winehouse is therefore understandably sensitive about anyone who he perceives as exploiting Amy's memory, particularly for financial gain, and he is keen to promote the AWF, but also, in my judgment, he is equally sensitive about ensuring that the family continue to benefit financially." Read more from Sky News:The night Amy Winehouse performed for the last timeBack To Black stars on love, loss and 'evil' of addiction In a statement through her lawyers, Naomi Parry said after the ruling that the High Court had cleared her name "unequivocally and in full, after years of deeply damaging and unfounded allegations". "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." Winehouse, one of the defining talents of her generation, became a household name with her second album, the multiplatinum-selling Back To Black. She was known for songs including Rehab, Love Is A Losing Game, Tears Dry On Their Own and the album's hit titular track, along with her cover of The Zutons' Valerie with Mark Ronson. She won six Grammys and three Ivor Novello awards for her music and songwriting and a biopic about her life and career, also titled Back To Black and starring Marisa Abela, was released in 2024.

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Apr 19
Former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson's car stolen with children's essential hospital kit inside

The singer's baby twins, Ocean Jade and Story Monroe, suffer from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) - a rare condition which causes progressive muscle wastage. On Sunday, she took to social media with a plea for help in tracking down her vehicle and offered a £10,000 reward for information. Nelson said the car, a black Land Rover Defender, with a JJ73SSY registration plate, was stolen from her driveway in Brentwood, Essex, in the early hours of the morning. "Please, if any of you have seen or know of any information can you DM me or contact the police," she said. "I have so much of my girls' hospital equipment in that car that's really needed." Nelson has been campaigning to raise awareness of SMA since her twins' diagnosis and recently shared her pride after the government fast-tracked plans to roll out screenings for the condition. The singer met Health Secretary Wes Streeting in January to discuss the life-changing impact early detection could have had on her children. Read more from Sky News:Public told not to approach 'dangerous' missing manRobot beats humans in half-marathon Nelson said in January that her daughters' diagnosis would mean they are unlikely to ever be able to walk or regain their neck strength. She told Sky News she had taken the twins to the GP three times because they weren't feeding properly but was told "they are absolutely fine". "It wasn't until they got their diagnosis that they were then like we've got to keep them in because they're very underweight and they need to go on feeding tubes... and now they are still on feeding tubes," she said. SMA causes muscle weakness, movement problems, problems with breathing and swallowing, muscle tremors, and bone and joint problems, according to the NHS.

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Apr 17
D4vd: Singer held on suspicion of murdering teen girl found dead in his Tesla

The 21-year-old musician had been under investigation by a grand jury after the remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez were found in a car registered to him in September. Los Angeles police said the Houston-born singer - whose legal name is David Anthony Burke - was being held without bail on suspicion of murder. The decomposed remains of Ms Hernandez were discovered in a Tesla registered to D4vd on 8 September - the day after she would have turned 15 - when police were called to a Hollywood tow yard because of reports of a foul smell coming from the vehicle. The vehicle had been towed from the Hollywood Hills, where it appeared to have been abandoned. Inside the car, investigators found a cadaver bag containing a head and torso, and a second bag containing dismembered body parts, according to court documents, although the cause of death has not been publicly confirmed. Ms Hernandez, who was identified after forensic examinations, had been reported missing from her hometown of Lake Elsinore - about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles - since 2024. Court documents show authorities had given her age as 14 when she was killed. In a statement, D4vd's lawyers vowed to "vigorously defend" his innocence, adding: "Let us be clear - the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death." Read more from Sky News:Bank robbers hold 25 hostage - and use sewer to fleeEyewitness - Trump's oil blockade is bringing Cuba to its knees D4vd had been on tour when the body was discovered, and a spokesperson for the artist said at the time he was "fully cooperating with the authorities". The singer, who went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit Romantic Homicide, subsequently cancelled his world tour.

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Apr 20
Zoologist, TV presenter and author Desmond Morris dies aged 98

He was the face of Granada's hit Zoo Time - a nature series exploring animal behaviour which ran from 1956 to 1967. Morris also fronted the BBC's Life In The Animal World and other documentaries for the broadcaster after starting his career with the corporation in 1965. The Wiltshire-born author won global acclaim in 1967 for his most successful book, The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study Of The Human Animal. Many more books followed, including The Human Zoo (1969), Manwatching (1977) and The Naked Man (1977), and he contributed to more than 90 titles during his career. Morris followed his passion for animals after joining the Army in 1946 and completing two years of national service. He also served as London Zoo's curator of mammals for eight years from 1959. He began his academic career studying zoology at the University of Birmingham, and later completed a doctorate in animal behaviour at Oxford University, where he remained to study the reproductive behaviour of birds. His son Jason said he died on Sunday, but that his father had enjoyed a "lifetime of exploration, curiosity and creativity". "A zoologist, manwatcher, author and artist, he was still writing and painting right up until his death. "He was a great man and an even better father and grandfather." Read more from Sky News:Winehouse's dad loses challenge over daughter's belongingsHalf marathon organisers apologise after route too long

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Apr 18
Kanye West's FC Basel concert cancelled

Swiss media had previously reported that the controversial rapper was due to perform at St. Jakob-Park, the home of football club FC Basel, in June. But on Saturday, the club announced that they had backed out of plans after a "thorough review". It is the fourth of West's European shows to be cancelled in the past fortnight. He was due to appear at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów on 19 June, his first performance in Poland for 15 years, but the venue said on Friday it would not go ahead "due to formal and legal reasons". And earlier this month, his Wireless festival appearance was blocked after the UK government denied him entry to the country. Read more from Sky News:Civil servants knew weeks ago Mandelson failed security vettingEngland fans face inflated prices for travel to World Cup games Earlier this week, West himself announced his planned concert at the Orange Velodrome in Marseille, France, on 11 June would be postponed "until further notice". FC Basel, one of Switzerland's best-known football clubs, said in a statement: "FCB received an enquiry ⁠and considered it. "However, after thorough review, we have decided not ‌to proceed with the project, as we cannot, in accordance with our values, provide a platform ‌for the artist in question within this context." West recently wrote on his social media that he is "looking forward to the next shows". Fury over West's previous antisemitic comments have returned ahead of the rapper's scheduled European tour this summer. He has since apologised for his behaviour, which he attributed to a brain injury.

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