Punching singer lands in court

Prosecuting lawyer Lyall Thompson said Winehouse hit out when a friend of Flash, who was drunk, tried to get into the picture.

“It may be that it was that that annoyed Miss Winehouse,” Lyall told the court, according to the Press Association.

“Miss Winehouse may have felt she had generously agreed to be photographed on her own and not with a drunken stranger.” But he added: “This was a deliberate assault by Miss Winehouse. There was nothing accidental about her actions.”

Flash said Winehouse had “punched forcefully in my right eye. She looked maybe like she was on drugs or something.”

A lawyer for Winehouse said the 25-year-old pushed Flash away when she put her arm around her.

“What happened is this,” Patrick Gibbs said. “You wanted to be in a photo with Miss Winehouse. When she said ‘I am coming back in two minutes’ time’, you weren’t prepared to wait. You put your arm around her and she pushed you away, and she must have caught you on the side of your eye.”

Reuters