Amy scared by dancer, court is told

Jul 23 2009

Amy Winehouse has denied punching a dancer in the face at a charity ball.

But the 25-year-old singer admitted she pushed dancer Sherene Flash away after she drunkenly put her arm round her at the ball in Berkeley Square, London, last September.

Winehouse told the City of Westminster magistrates' court she felt scared and intimidated by Miss Flash and wanted her to leave her alone.

Winehouse said Miss Flash and her friend Kieran Connolly asked to take a photograph, but when she asked them to wait they became persistent.

Winehouse said: "She moved her left arm to lean down to me and tried to pose next to me. Her friend came round in front of us and started taking a picture. I was like, 'Do I get a choice in this, hello?' I pushed her up, like away. I wanted her away from me."

She denied punching Miss Flash and added: "It was more like an indication of 'leave me alone, I'm scared of you'."

Winehouse went on: "I meant to just get her away from me. I was scared. I thought, people are mad these days, people are just rude and mad, or people can't handle their drink."

She spoke quickly but appeared both confident and controlled as she described the events leading up to the alleged attack, which the prosecutor described as an act of "deliberate and unjustifiable violence".

She told the court Ms Flash towered over her as she was just "five foot two and a half, or five foot three" but said: "My hair does make a difference."

The trial continues.