Singer Amy Winehouse not guilty of assault

Singer Amy Winehouse has been found not guilty of assaulting a burlesque dancer at a charity ball in central London.

She was accused of punching Sherene Flash after she asked the singer for a photograph at the event in Berkeley Square last September.

The singer was accused of hitting Miss Flash in the eye when the dancer's friend tried to get into the photo, the court heard.

Ms Winehouse denied assault at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Summing up the evidence, District Judge Timothy Workman said all but two witnesses in the trial were drunk at the time of the incident.

"The two accounts are irreconcilable and I have had therefore to examine carefully the evidence of other witnesses."

'Maintained her innocence'

The judge said the medical evidence presented by the prosecution did not show "the sort of injury that often occurs when there is a forceful punch to the eye".

As she left the courtroom, Ms Winehouse told reporters: "I'm relieved. I'm going home."

Moments before the fracas, Ms Flash asked to take a photograph of the singer in a dressing room after midnight on 26 September.

The court heard the situation worsened when a drunken friend of the dancer tried to get into the photo.

But Ms Winehouse insisted the incident was blown out of all proportion.

A spokesman for Amy Winehouse said: "She has always maintained her innocence and is very happy to move on with her life and put the episode behind her."

The singer said she had gone to the event to support her goddaughter who was performing there.