Amy Winehouse pleads guilty to assault
By Alexandra Heilbron on January 20, 2010 | 21 Comments
Amy Winehouse, 26, pleaded guilty to common assault and disorder this morning at Milton Keynes Magistrates’ Court in England. The assault occured last December when she was attending a pantomime of Cinderella, starring Mickey Rooney. Winehouse admitted to being intoxicated, having enjoyed five vodka and cokes before arriving at the theater. During the first half of the show, when the audience was asked to participate, Winehouse was loud and obnoxious, and was asked by another audience member to be quiet. During the second half, she made a trip to the theater’s bar, where she asked for a double vodka and coke. When theater manager Richard Pound suggested she have water instead, she pulled his hair and swore at him. Winehouse was spared jail time, instead receiving a two-year conditional discharge as well as a fine of $300 for court costs and compensation to the victim. ~Alexandra Heilbron
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oh, lovely. another celeb that gets away with assault.
I don’t agree with the comment “another celeb that gets away with assault”, which seems to imply that what happened to her is any different than what would happen to a “regular” person.
For one, she didn’t get off completely: she paid compensation and she has a conditional discharge, which means she has to stay out of trouble for 2 years for nothing more to happen.
I wouldn’t doubt that the same sentence would be given to most other people who did the same. I absolutely don’t condone anything she did, but pulling someone’s hair is relatively minor in the definition of assault. Certainly not worthy of taking up jail space. And not that much different than Sharon Osborne slapping someone who wrote something she didn’t like — which some people on this site applauded her for doing.
I do agree with you, silver but, it was Kelly Osbourne and she didn’t slap that reporter because she wrote something she didn’t like. She slapped her because when confronted for writing something untrue, the reporter tried to trap Kelly into getting her boyfriend to come for an apology in a setting in which she could lie about him even more. I’d have slapped her too. Right in the mouth!
well, when someone is willing to get violent over being told to “have water instead” its a clear indication that they either have a drinking problem or an anger problem. how long will it be until she beats her boyfriend (or husband, if she has one) or kids (if she has any) or beats up someone else because they said something she doesnt like? no one has the right to physically harm another person just because they didnt like what the person said. so yes, i still think she got off too light. if they would crack down on these people that assault others perhaps it would never escalate to abuse or to something more serious than pulling someones hair. if the person decided to press charges, it was obviously frightening for him and perhaps even painful. if they put these people in jail for even a week, theyd learn from it more than they would by being on probation. assault is still assault, it shouldnt matter what form its in.
Circumstances do matter and there is not enough room in jail for those who commit minor offences. Jeeze, they don’t even keep the ones in who commit serious offences long enough! Minor offences should always be given just a fine or community service and probation.
Oh no! I agree with Nancy! Is it 2012??
(Not to be insulting, I just don’t agree with most of your views.)
Mandee, Nancy is right, circumstances do matter. Forget about this particular case, because we don’t know the details to assess the fairness of the sentence.
However, most people do get angry and sometimes do things they regret. It doesn’t make “these people” bad, it makes them human. And for many people, being charged and going to court, and possibly spending some time in a cell, is enough; and for many, being on probation and getting counselling is a lot more useful, and cheaper, than putting someone in jail; and for some people, they regret what they do even without courts getting involved.
Many people who commit crimes have other issues affecting them that jail does not solve. You mistakenly believe that everyone considers jail/prison something that you will do anything to avoid, because you feel that way. If prison was the answer, then we wouldn’t have repeat offenders.
From many of the comments you have made here, you seem to see most things in black and white, and although it is great for someone to have your moral standards, and we wish everyone were as “nice” as you, people aren’t. They are the products of genetics and their environment. Most people don’t say “I’m going to be a bad person.” They learn much of their behaviour. The system is set up to find the best way in the circumstances to change behaviour, not just to punish it.
I really think you nailed it, mandee with your last sentence ” assault is still assault, it shouldnt matter what form its in”…far too many justify assault when it suits their cause, yet expect the system to come down on another they don’t “fancy” as much…
nancy, youre right there isnt enough room in the jails, and no the ones that commit serious offences do not get anywhere near long enough, but there should be something bigger done than probation. probation is nothing, they just have to make sure they dont get caught when/if they do stupid things. she should be sent to rehab or anger management.
i agree jo.
Actually, since you both agree that “assault is still assault, it shouldnt matter what form its in”…sometimes, assault is in the verbal “form” and slapping in the mouth is a form of self defence, right? Remember, that we are allowed to use “as much force as necessary”. Some people abuse others physically, some mentally and some verbally so, when someone hits you, you should defend yourself however you can. So, when someone verbally abuses you, you can also defend yourself anyway you can.
A two-year conditional discharge and a fine of $300 is nothing, the money is a drop in the bucket for her, and I don’t think this will deter her at all.
She’s another Courtney Love.
hahahaha NO, nance, that’s not how it works for me but an interesting twist you have on words….
if someone disagrees with me, verbally abuses me, I can fight back with words just fine, thank you….I do not feel a cheap shot to the face quite measures up to the “defence” you are in favour of….
Well you see Jo-WAnne, what I mean, is that in Kelly Osbourne’s situation, the person she slapped is a reporter…someone who doesn’t just say things, she puts them in her articles…for ALL the world to see/hear. So for Kelly to just say “words” to defend herself/boyfriend wouldn’t generate enough media attention for ALL the world to see/hear, so she slapped her…and guess what? It worked! Now everyone knows that the reported was lying.
Anyways, no surprise here but, I disagree with you. I believe “assault is still assault, it shouldnt matter what form its in”…verbal, mental or physical. If someone gets charged for hitting you because you verbally assaulted them, then you should be charged as well because “assault is assault”.
They should do it like some of the nordic countries and make the fine relative to the persons income. A $300 fine is a greater punishment to some one who is earning minimum wage than it is to someone who makes millions a year.
tg, matthew i agree with you both!
nancy, i still agree assault is assault no matter what form, but to become physical with someone as a means of self defense should only be allowed (or considered) if they have already hit you first. if someone is mentally/verbally abusing you all you have to do is walk away from them, or use the same methods to defend yourself. i can understand what happened with kelly, i think i may have been one of the ones to agree lol, but i dont think its right for no reason. “maybe you should have water” hmmm lets pull your hair and curse right in your face because i should be allowed, you said no more booze! it seems excessive. if she didnt like it im sure she could have bribed him (lmao) or she could have went somewhere else, she could have went home and made herself a drink, she could have hung out with someone else and had them order her a drink. if she needed it THAT badly im sure there were ways around it other than grabbing his hair. i wonder if he ended up giving her the drink?
Mandee, I don’t agree with what Amy Winehouse did at all. I don’t think he gave her the drink though, LOL. She definAtely has a drinking problem. She’s always fighting with people when she is drunk. She should be thankful that she was offered water instead of just thrown out for disturbing the peace…she was yelling obscenities during the show.
so the courts should have demanded she go into rehab because she seems to be an out of control alcoholic. thats what i mean by i think she got off. shes still going to drink and get violent, shed better just hope no one reports her next time. maybe she will kill the next one and hide the body so they cant tell ?
I don’t think she’d bother hiding the body, because I think she really doesn’t care. Seems like she thinks there will never be much punishment for her because of who she is. But I definAtely agree, they should have forced her into rehab.
thats true. and its not always because of who they are, but how much money they can offer as a bribe. its disgusting.
I’VE GOT A GREAT SOLUTION ..BAN ALCOHOL EVERYWHERE ,IT’S A DRUG,FAR WORSE THAN HOOCH!MY OPINION ONLY!!!
When will she learn
shes just one cracked out
girl! Shes never learns from
her mistakes lol.
but i agree shes another Courtney Love
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