Amber Heard branded Johnny Depp a “coward” and was screaming hysterically after allegedly severing the star’s fingertip in a blazing row, the actor’s bodyguard claimed.
Malcolm Connolly told the High Court he witnessed the aftermath of the incident in Australia in 2015, when the Pirates of the Caribbean star suffered a gruesome injury and was left needing surgery.
Depp claims Heard was responsible for the injury after throwing a vodka bottle which “exploded” on his hand, while she insists the actor did it to himself in a drink and drugs haze.
Giving evidence to the High Court this morning, Mr Connolly said Depp told him as they left the rented Australian home “Look at my finger. She's cut my f***ing finger off. She's smashed my hand with a vodka bottle."
The bodyguard, who has worked for Depp and his family for 16 years, said Heard’s claims of the incident “bears no resemblance to my recollection” and said he feared she was going to pelt them with objects as they left.
Mr Connolly said he was ordered to “extract the boss from the situation” in March 2015, arriving to the sound of a “ruckus inside”.
“He and Amber were screaming at each other”, he said. “I shouted at Johnny words to the effect of ‘come with me, you are coming with me’. I then took his arm trying to move him out, but he broke away. I said again words to the effect of ‘Johnny, come with me’. It wasn't easy but I did get him outside.”
Mr Connolly said Depp blamed Heard immediately for the finger injury, and also suggested “she had put a cigarette out on his cheek”, said the security guard. “I could see the mark on his face.”
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard at High Court: July 2020
He continued that Heard, wearing a green silk night gown, was “screaming and crying” while calling out: “Are you just going to leave it like this, you f***ing coward?”.
“She was saying ‘I love you, I love you. Is this how you are going to end this?’”, he said.
“She was not making a lot of sense: one second she was begging Johnny not to leave the house and then she was screaming at him for running away.
“She was absolutely hysterical. I was worried that she might start throwing objects at Johnny, or at myself, as I had seen her throw objects before.
“For example, I had seen her lob a fork in Johnny's general direction once; another time I recall she threw a lighter at him; another time a can of coke. I knew that we needed to get out of there as soon as possible.”
Mr Connolly said Depp was “in shock” and panicking, but denied seeing that the star was drunk.
He added that the security team decided to tell doctors that Depp had severed his finger while chopping onions to try to warn off bad publicity, but the medic “didn’t believe us for one second”.
The court also heard that Depp’s head of security Jerry Judge was recorded saying Heard had scratches on her arm after the incident in Australia.
Sasha Wass QC, representing The Sun, said a recording device was left on at the house in Australia, capturing five hours including Depp talking and Judge speaking.
“She has scratches on her left arm that someone told me about”, Mr Judge was heard saying. “I’ve seen those scratches before on a lot of people.”
Ms Wass said Mr Judge – who has since died – may have been suggesting the scratches were self-inflicted.
Connolly insisted he had not seen any marks on Heard’s arm when he “extracted” Depp from the property.
“Jerry Judge had four hours with Amber, I had roughly 30 minutes and had seen her from a distance”, he said.
Asked if he might have missed any scratches, Mr Connolly replied: “No.”
Mr Connolly has said he was told by Depp that the severed finger was Heard's fault.
Heard claims the finger injury came at the end of a “three-day hostage situation” after Depp had subjected her to repeated bouts of violence.
However, Depp - who insists Heard’s allegations of violence are a hoax – called his ex-wife’s account “patently untrue”.
The court has heard how Depp used his wounded finger to daub messages on a mirror, at first with blood and then black paint, which he says happened when he was in the grip of a nervous breakdown.
Depp is suing The Sun’s publisher News Group Newspapers and executive editor Dan Wootton for libel over a 2018 article which dubbed him a “wife beater”.
The libel trial continues.