Winehouse Guilty Of Assault

Tabloid favourite Amy Winehouse has pleaded guilty to assaulting a man during a disturbance at a pantomime in Buckinghamshire Dec. 19.

The troubled singer received a two-year conditional discharge at Milton Keynes Magistrates Court Jan. 20, which means she’ll avoid further punishment if she stays out of trouble that long.

“That may be harder than a fine, because you have now got to stay on the straight and narrow for the next two years,” said District Judge Peter Crabtree, who told the court it’s obvious that alcohol played a part in events.

Winehouse’s run-ins with the law, usually a result of alleged assaults, drugs, or the criminal activities of former husband Blake Fielder-Civil, have often overshadowed her Grammy-winning music.

She is said to have attacked Milton Keynes Theater manager Richard Pound during a performance of the pantomime “Cinderella” Dec. 19.

Prosecution lawyer Julian Vickery said Winehouse had been “raising her voice in the spirit of the pantomime,” although later accepted that some members of the audience may have found her conduct disorderly. She admitted she’d been asked to be quiet.

The trouble seems to have flared up when Winehouse left the theatre to go the rest room. As she passed the bar, she asked Pound for another drink.

Apparently feeling “hurt, embarrassed and patronized” because Pound suggested she have a glass of water instead and then asked her to leave, she grabbed hold of his hair and started pulling it.

Winehouse was also ordered to pay £85 in costs and £100 compensation to the theatre manager.