Amy Winehouse admits pantomime assault

Amy Winehouse today admitted assaulting a theatre manager during an incident at a pantomime.

The troubled singer pleaded guilty to common assault and public order charges at Milton Keynes Magistrates' Court.

The 26-year-old star lashed out at a 27-year-old theatre manager after disrupting a performance of Cinderella at the Milton Keynes Theatre in Buckinghamshire.

The Back To Black singer was arrested on December 23 after attending Milton Keynes police station voluntarily after the incident on December 19.

Winehouse, from Barnet, Hertfordshire, was charged with a public order offence and common assault under the name Amy Civil.

Winehouse was given a two year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £85 in costs and £100 in compensation to her victim, Richard Pound, the theatre's front-of-house manager.

District judge Peter Crabtree told her: "Mr Pound is a person whose job involves interaction with the public.

"If he's assaulted he deserves the court's protection.

"In this case it's obvious that alcohol played its part."

Passing sentence, he added: "It may be harder than a fine because you have now got to stay on the straight and narrow for the next two years."

Winehouse, who is no stranger to courtrooms, sat quietly in the dock wearing a short dark skirt and white shirt, and sporting her signature beehive hairstyle.