Turmoil for Amy Winehouse as police storm her home
8th November 2007
Police battered their way into Amy Winehouse's home yesterday and spent three hours searching through her belongings.
More than a dozen officers smashed in the front door of the house the singer shares with junkie husband Blake Fielder-Civil.
The incident - in which police used a crowbar and battering ram to force their way into the North London home - was the latest crisis in Miss Winehouse's turbulent personal life.
Amy's husband Blake Fielder-Civil left the house shortly before these dramatic scenes
The red door is prised open by the specially-trained entry expert
After the raid: Police stand guard outside Winehouse's homePolice were refusing to comment on the 5pm raid, only saying: "It is part of an ongoing operation."
Three armed officers and ten plainclothes officers broke into the house, which was empty at the time.
Miss Winehouse had earlier fled to her father's home in Kent while her husband left the house an hour earlier.
Troubled couple: Amy with husband Blake who is due in court on Monday on assault chargesThe officers left carrying several boxes.
Four men, two aged 25, one aged 22 and a 19-year-old, were later arrested in east London in connection with the raid.
The 24-year-old Brit winner has, according to friends and family, been on a downward spiral ever since taking a drugs overdose in August this year.
She cancelled a string of tour dates and disappeared on a Caribbean jaunt after ignoring pleas to treat her heroin addiction in rehab.
Her erratic behaviour in the past few weeks has once again led to concerns for her health.
Last month she was arrested in Norway with two other suspects, charged with possession of cannabis and fined £350.
Her hotel room in Bergen was raided after staff reported that the smell of cannabis was wafting down the corridor.
Last week she shocked an audience at the MTV music awards in Munich when she slurred her way through the song Back To Black and incoherently mumbled an acceptance speech when she was awarded the artists' choice trophy.
A bandmate had to help her off stage. Earlier this week she failed to turn up for a video shoot, keeping a film crew waiting more than 12 hours.
The troubled singer's drug addiction has been said to have reduced her divorced parents, Mitch and Janis Winehouse, to despair.
Mr Winehouse, a taxi driver, said he was "sickened and wanted to die" when he saw how drugs were destroying his daughter.
Gone to see father: Miss Winehouse yesterday Her mother-in-law Georgette Civil recently begged music fans not to buy her records or give her awards to shock her into confronting her problems.
A spokesman for Miss Winehouse said: "It has nothing to do with drugs. Amy is fine. She has not been charged or arrested."
The raid came just hours after the troubled songstress had appeared looking fresh-faced - a far cry from her usually dishevelled attire.
Amy looked every inch the 50s bombshell in a cardigan and neat pencil skirt last night for a low key outing with her father Mitchell at Balan's Restaurant in Soho.
It was a change of pace for the London hell-raiser, with her father dropping her home in his black cab well before midnight.
As they parted ways, Amy shared an emotional embrace with her father, who has regularly spoken of his concern over her drug use.
In another sign Amy could be turning over a new leaf, she has just been granted a visa to perform in the U.S.
Amy was seen arriving at the American Embassy in London's Grosvenor Square for a formal interview earlier this week.
She was previously denied a permit after admitting to drug charges in Norway in last month, however she has since denied the marijuana was hers.
She was reportedly set to perform on hit US show Saturday Night Live, however her appearance is now in jeopardy because of the script writer's strike.
Meanwhile, the Rehab singer, who gave a disastrous performance at Europe's MTV awards last week, has made the cut for the NME's annual Cool List.
She came in at number 12, up from 50 last year.
NME magazine said that throughout all her high profile dramas this year, "the queen of cool has kept her beehive in place."
Hug it out: Amy shares a moment with her father as he drops her home in his cab
