Amy Winehouse_ The Biography - Chas Newkey-Burden [80]
The source added, ‘They’ve ordered Blake to pay the hundred grand into a secret bank account within the next few days or else… Amy will be snatched and harmed. She’s at her weakest right now, and what with her wandering the streets in the dead of night she’s at massive risk. Blake knows it’ll be easy to bundle her off in a car without anyone batting an eyelid.’
Amy’s life was not made any easier when it was revealed that she had been summoned to appear in a Norwegian court due to her appeal of a fine for marijuana possession. Liv Karlsen, a spokeswoman for police in the Norwegian city of Bergen, explained that this was normal practice. ‘If one appeals a conviction, it’s the rule that one has to appear in person. So this is not surprising.’ Mitchell had already laid out the basis of Amy’s defence against this charge during his interview on the This Morning television programme, maintaining that Amy had unwittingly signed a confession document written in Norwegian, thinking it was a release form. Police prosecutor Rudolf Christoffersen insisted police were ‘very certain the three knew what they were signing and they paid the fine on the spot’.
However, when she next boarded a plane it was not to Norway that Amy travelled but to Barbados, where she took a much-needed break. ‘Amy has been desperate to escape England and forget about her troubles for the past couple of months,’ said a friend. ‘But she didn’t want Blake to feel any more alone or abandoned than he already does, so she’s waited as long as possible before booking anywhere. Blake’s given her his full blessing, as he knows how stressed and out of sorts she’s been of late. The plan is for Amy to have a sunshine break, enjoy a few cocktails – and stay away from drugs.
‘She’s already made a few New Year’s resolutions and hopes the trip will become a turning point in her life. Amy wants 2008 to be a year of consolidation and, more than anything, for it to be trauma-free. She’s convinced that Blake will be cleared of all charges and is desperate for the couple to enjoy some regular marital stability.’
Other famous people holidaying there at the time included Simon Cowell, Gary Lineker, Michael Winner and Sir Philip Green. A famous name who wasn’t in the Caribbean but was positive about Amy at this time was Kylie Minogue. The petite pop legend was asked what was on her iPod and replied, ‘A lot of English regulars of the moment, like Arctic Monkeys and the Klaxons. Oh, and Amy Winehouse, needless to say.’
Also coming out in support of Amy at this time was Julie Burchill. She wrote in the Sun,
I love Amy Winehouse, and I’m not at all shocked by her behaviour. We’ve been used for such a long time to singers who are ambition-led (Madonna and her hordes of pop-tart imitators) that we have forgotten how singers who are talent-led behave.
Edith Piaf, Judy Garland, Billie Holiday – for some reason, and it would take a genetic scientist to explain it, women who have a great talent for singing also have a great capacity for reckless behaviour. Whereas if your talent is a teeny-weeny sickly little thing – see Madonna and mates – then you have to behave the very opposite of recklessly in order to preserve it.
While relaxing in the Caribbean, Amy reportedly decided to renew her wedding vows with Blake once she was back in the UK. ‘They’re missing each other terribly,’ said a friend. ‘Amy wants them to repeat the same vows they took when they originally tied the knot in a £60 ceremony in Miami last May.’
Chapter Ten
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS?
Predictions of Amy’s future normally centre on one of two paths: a magical musical comeback, or a drug-fuelled sprint towards an early grave. Those closest