She is known for her tumultuous private life and perennial presence in the tabloids, but even for Amy Winehouse the past weekend was an eventful one.

The Grammy-winning soul singer kicked off the weekend by showing up at Holborn Police Station on Friday afternoon to answer questions following an assault allegation. But after a doctor proclaimed her unfit to be interviewed, she spent the night in custody.

On Saturday morning, she admitted common assault, by slapping a man with an open hand, and accepted a caution, before evading the paparazzi pack that shadow her by skipping out the back door. A spokesperson for the 26-year-old singer later said she had apologised and the police would not be taking further action.

By Sunday, the slapping scandal was buried by a new one. News of The World reported that Winehouse had started a relationship with her manager’s assistant, Alex Haines, 22, while her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, was in Pentonville Prison on charges of assault and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Haines’s step-father, Roger Vine, said: “He honestly hasn't confirmed or denied it to me. He is a private person and I haven't pushed it.”

But Winehouse’s father confirmed the relationship and said he was shocked by it but suspected his daughter would have pursued Haines.

“I don’t like infidelity. But Alex could be the victim in all this.

“I can’t imagine Alex seducing Amy. He looks like Clark Kent.

“It was clearly the other way round”.

Making yet more headlines, Mitch said he wanted his daughter sectioned under the Mental Health Act as “the situation was getting out of control”.

But the 57-year-old taxi driver acknowledged his chances of having Winehouse committed to a psychiatric hospital were slim.

“What I think is best for Amy and what she thinks is best for her are two different things.

“Unless somebody is suicidal or they are a danger to other people - for example walking around the streets threatening to kill people – no one is going to section them.”

Still, the weekend’s Winehouse headlines were not all bad. The singer, who was nominated for two prestigious Ivor Novello awards last week, also made the news for finding her way on to the Sunday Times Rich List.

According to the 2008 list, the five-time Grammy winner has amassed a £10 million fortune, putting her tenth equal in the Young Music Millionaires category.

The eventful weekend was the only the latest installment in the singer’s increasingly chaotic life. Last August she was admitted to hospital following a reported drug overdose and has checked in and out of rehab a number of times since. In October she was arrested and convicted for drug posession, while on tour in Norway, and in December she was again detained by police in connection with the investigation into her husband. She was later cleared.

Her husband, who has been in prison for several months, is due to stand trial on June 2.

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