Singer Amy Winehouse has fought back against paparazzi photographers keen to record every aspect of her troubled private life, winning a high court anti-harassment injunction and posting the ruling outside her new home in the London suburbs.
Winehouse, who has been a ubiquitous presence in the tabloids ever since her Mercury-nominated album Frank was released six years ago, secured the injunction to prevent her being pursued by photographers after her move earlier this year from her central London home to a more sedate neighbourhood.
The order bans leading paparazzi agency Big Pictures from following Winehouse but also refers to any "persons unknown" seeking to photograph the musician outside her home and in other public places if they have pursued her.
This means that any photographers could face prosecution if they follow Winehouse by any means or approach her within 100 metres of her new home, which is near where she lived as a child.
All photographers are also forbidden from taking pictures of her in her home or the home of any members of her family or friends according to the order, which cites the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
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The injunction reflects a growing vogue for celebrities to target paparazzi themselves rather than the newspapers that purchase their photographs.
A source close to Winehouse's management team said that the injunction was sought because press attention had made her life "unsafe".
"Every time she got in her car she was chased or was jostled, and it has become unsafe not just for her, but the people around her," the source said. "We don't have the problem with the press doing their job but it has been mayhem a couple of times and Amy had to do something."
The source added that the injunction, which was initiated by the singer herself and not her publicity team, would also help Winehouse find a quieter life.
There has been a storm of press coverage over the last few years and almost daily paparazzi pictures of the singer, who is famous for her alleged drug use as much as for her music success, which has seen her amass £10m with 6m album sales.
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She has had many troubles in recent years, with an arrest last year for alleged drug offences, spells in drug rehab and admissions of self-harm. Her marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil – recently freed from prison after being sentenced to 27 months last July for assaulting a pub landlord and attempting to pervert the course of justice – appears destined for the divorce courts.
Another source close to the singer added that a burglary in January at Winehouse's old Camden home was attributed to the fact that thieves were able to ascertain when she was away from home because of the absence of the pack of photographers outside.
While she was on an extended break in St Lucia £15,000 in possessions, including guitars, recording equipment and a flat-screen television were reportedly stolen.
Winehouse is still on the Caribbean island and is expected to stay there "for the foreseeable future", according to her publicist. She is hoping to record her third album in a specially kitted-out studio and also has plans to perform at the forthcoming St Lucia jazz festival, the publicist said.
Winehouse's injunction carries legal weight in England and Wales but does not cover her in the Caribbean. However, according to Winehouse's legal team, there "could be an argument" for the injunction preventing the publication in the UK of paparazzi pictures of her even if they were taken abroad.
In March media specialists Carter-Ruck obtained a legal injunction to protect pop star Lily Allen from harassment by Big Pictures and rival agency Matrix Photos. Carter-Ruck also obtained an injunction "restraining further harassment" by other paparazzi photographers in a case which was presented to the high court by barrister David Sherborne, who also represented Winehouse.
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Allen's move followed a collision outside her London home between her car and that of a photographer, after which cameramen continued to follow her. Photographers covered by the order have been ordered not to pursue or follow Allen by any means or approach her within 100 metres of her home. They are also forbidden from taking pictures of her at her home or at the homes of any members of her family or friends.
Two months later the actor Sienna Miller was also granted an undertaking that Big Pictures would not pursue her – by car, motorcycle or on foot – or "doorstep" her at her home or that of her family.
The tailing of Miller between June and September last year during her alleged relationship with actor Balthazar Getty, soon after she broke off a relationship with the Welsh actor Rhys Ifans, resulted in the publication of 23 photographs. Darryn Lyons, the flamboyant Australian owner of Big Pictures agency, and Big Pictures agreed to pay £37,000 damages and court costs to settle the harassment clai