A prosecutor told a London court Thursday that Amy Winehouse used deliberate and unjustifiable violence when she punched a fan who had asked for a photograph.
The soul diva is standing trial on an assault charge, accused of attacking another guest at a charity ball last September. Dancer Sherene Flash alleges she was hit in the eye by the 25-year-old "Back to Black" singer after asking to take her picture.
Prosecutor Lyall Thompson said Winehouse appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or "some other substance" when she hit Flash.
Thompson said Winehouse initially agreed to have her picture taken, but may have been angered when a drunken friend of Flash tried to get into the photo.
"Miss Winehouse may have felt she had generously agreed to be photographed on her own and not with a drunken stranger," he said.
But he said that was no excuse for hitting Flash in the eye.
"This was a deliberate assault by Miss Winehouse," Thompson said. "There was nothing accidental about Miss Winehouse's actions."
The singer shot to stardom with the Grammy-winning album "Back to Black" in 2006, but her music has been overshadowed by reports of drug use, run-ins with the law and a tempestuous marriage.
In recent months she has kept out of the headlines.
Winehouse recently returned from an extended break on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. Last week a judge granted her a divorce from her husband of two years, Blake Fielder-Civil.
Winehouse arrived at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday dressed in a gray suit.
She gave her name in court as Amy Jade Civil and sat quietly, occasionally taking notes, as prosecutors outlined the case against her.
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