One of Johnny Depp’s security team has told the High Court the actor was “in emotional distress and panicking” after his finger was severed during an incident in Australia.
The episode, in March 2015, is one of 14 allegations of violent behaviour Amber Heard has made against her former husband, which are at the centre of his libel claim against The Sun.
Malcolm Connolly, who has worked for Depp and his family for about 16 years, said in a witness statement that when he and another security guard arrived at the property, the Hollywood star told him: “Look at my finger. She’s cut my f***ing finger off. She’s smashed my hand with a vodka bottle.”
Connolly said the actor also told him Heard had put a cigarette out on his face, and he saw a mark.
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The security officer said Heard’s account of the incident bore “no resemblance” to his recollection and that when he arrived at the house, the actress “did not have any marks on her face or arms”.
He said he went to the property after receiving an urgent call from the head of Depp’s security team who told him to “extract the boss from the situation”.
Connolly said: “I could hear the ruckus inside. I opened the door, which wasn’t locked, and saw Johnny in the foyer area of the house.
“He and Amber were screaming at each other. She was wearing a sort of green silk night thing, you might call it a slip.
“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.
“I had the car door open and when we were outside Johnny said to me words to the effect of ‘Look at my finger. She’s cut my f***ing finger off. She’s smashed my hand with a vodka bottle’. I saw his finger and it was a mess.”
Connolly’s statement continued: “Amber appeared at the door and then came close to the car, screaming and crying, calling out words along the lines of ‘Are you just going to leave it like this, you f***ing coward?’
“Then she was saying ‘I love you, I love you. Is this how you are going to end this?’
“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.”
Connolly said he could see Heard’s face “very clearly”, adding: “She did not have any marks on her face or arms. She didn’t look in any physical distress.
“I was much more concerned about Johnny. He was obviously in emotional distress and panicking. He wasn’t that drunk or out of it though and was easily standing on his own and having a conversation.”
Depp is an ‘unusually kind man’
Tara Roberts, estate manager at Depp’s Caribbean home, told the court in her witness statement that she saw Heard “screaming and berating” the Hollywood star as he yelled at the actress to “go away”.
Roberts also said she had seen a “red, swelling gash” on Depp’s nose, and claimed he had told her Heard had thrown a can of lacquer thinner into his face.
Roberts, who has worked for the actor since December 2008, described Depp in her witness statement as an “unusually kind man” and said she had never seen him be “violent or aggressive” with Heard, or anyone else.
“I observed in December 2015 to my colleagues that Amber was a ‘thrower’, someone who threw projectiles,” she said.
She alleged she saw Heard “lunge violently at Johnny, pull his hair, and commit other aggressive physical acts against him”.
Roberts said that on 29 December 2015, when the couple were staying on the island with his two children and a friend, the pair had an argument.
In her statement, she said: “While I could not hear what caused the fight, Amber repeatedly berated him with increasing ferocity.
“She was insulting him, calling him names, and in the middle of this onslaught I heard her say specifically ‘your career is over,’ ‘no one is going to hire you,’ ‘you’re washed up,’ ‘fat,’ ‘you will die a lonely man,’ and also screaming things that were incomprehensible.”
Roberts claimed Depp tried to leave, repeatedly asking for the key to a vehicle, which Heard refused to give back, adding it was later found in the couple’s house.
In her statement, Roberts alleged: “He was responding to her verbal attacks by saying ‘go away’ and ‘just leave me alone.’ Amber’s screaming and berating rose to a fever pitch, and Johnny continued to yell ‘go away’ and ‘leave me alone.'”
‘I never saw Johnny hit Amber’
Roberts went on to say she saw Heard “lunge at Johnny, clawing, tugging and aggressively pulling him”.
“He continued to stand there yelling at her to stop and leave him alone,” she said.
“When he stepped back to leave, her onslaught would start again.
“During this entire incident, I never saw Johnny hit Amber, or push her back, nor did he physically react to the attacks. She would calm down and hug and apologise. Then he would say he needs to leave and it would start again.”
Roberts said she later walked Depp to a cafe, adding “that is when I saw that he now had a red, swelling gash on the bridge of his nose”.
“Amber, Johnny then told me, had thrown a quart sized can of lacquer thinner into Johnny’s face, causing a gash,” her witness statement said.
The estate manager said: “Amber was makeup free and unmarked throughout this Christmas visit to the island, as she was usually makeup free when on the island.
“I never saw her with any sign of injury on her face or body whatsoever.”
Roberts’ statement also refers to an alleged incident in August 2014, during a “detox” trip for Depp to the Bahamas, in which Heard claims the actor attacked her, which he denies.
In the document, Roberts said nothing was broken during the visit and that “there was nothing out of the ordinary that happened”.
“Nor did I even witness a moment of discord, on a tiny island,” she said.
‘No visible’ injuries on The Late Late Show
And a Hollywood stylist told the court Heard had “no visible” injuries the day after the actress alleges Depp was violent towards her during a heated row.
Samantha McMillen said she spent “much of the afternoon and early evening” with Heard on 16 December 2015 as the star prepared to appear on James Corden’s The Late Late Show.
Depp, 57, is alleged to have been violent towards Heard in an argument at their Los Angeles penthouse on 15 December, which he denies.
In a witness statement, McMillen said that she saw Heard “in good light, at close range, wearing no makeup” the following day, adding: “I could see clearly that Heard did not have any visible marks, bruises, cuts, or injuries to her face or any other part of her body.”
McMillen claimed that after her appearance on the programme, Heard said to her “can you believe I just did that show with two black eyes?”
The stylist said: “Ms Heard did not have any black eyes, and had been visibly uninjured throughout the day and at that moment.”
In her written statement, McMillen also claimed she “interacted closely” with Heard five months later, on 24 May 2016, at Depp’s house in west Hollywood.
This was shortly after another episode in which Heard alleges the Pirates Of The Caribbean star threw a mobile phone at her, hitting her in the eye, and smashed items with a wine bottle.
McMillen’s statement says: “I went to the house in the afternoon, and encountered Ms Heard. Ms Heard was not wearing makeup.
“There were no visible marks, bruises, cuts, or injuries to her face or any other part of her body.”
Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire
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