‘HE KICKED, PUNCHED AND CHOKED ME. I WAS AFRAID I WOULD DIE’

AMBER Heard claimed she had suffered hell at the hands of Johnny Depp ‘punching, slapping, kicking, headbutting and choking me’.

She alleged the actor hurled objects, pulled her hair and shoved her, as well as constantly verbally insulting, intimidating and undermining her.

Some of her testimony was so extreme it had to be supplied in confidential schedules detailing allegations of sexual violence which were not made public.

But in vivid detail, she set out how ‘some incidents were so severe that I was afraid he was going to kill me’.

Miss Heard told the court: ‘He would often hold me by the neck up against the wall, without hitting me, but he would talk about what he would do to me if I left him, such as, “I will cut up your face so no one will want you ever again,” and about how he knew people who could “break a leg, real cheap”. He told me repeatedly that “if you ever **** this up or leave me, I will make sure you live to regret it every single day”.’

She described a ‘three-day hostage situation’ in Australia in the couple’s luxury house rented in March 201 while Depp was filming the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean. Depp’s alleged ecstasy and whisky-fuelled rage culminated in him trashing the house and writing messages in blood from a severed finger.

Miss Heard said: ‘It’s the worst thing I have ever been through. I was trapped and isolated with a violent person suffering from manic depression, bipolar disorder and a pattern of repeated, drug-induced psychosis and violence, who was on a multipleday drug and alcohol binge.

‘He grabbed me by the neck and kept smashing my head against the fridge. He said he could crush my neck and told me how easy it would be. He kept attacking me – he hit me, pushed me, choked me and spat in my face.

‘He grabbed the front of my gown and ripped it open, so at some point I was bare-chested.’

She claimed the next morning she found ‘bits of raw meat’ in her torn nightgown, adding: ‘It was really messed up.’

Another time, she said he headbutted her.

The day after, Miss Heard was a guest on James Corden’s Late Late Show. The court was shown photos of her, and she said: ‘I am wearing a large amount of make-up, which was put on specifically to cover the marks Johnny had left on my face.

‘I had to wear the dark red lipstick that I am wearing for the show because it was the only colour that could hide the swelling and bleeding from my lip.’

Miss Heard added to the court: ‘Throughout the relationship, others noticed I had cuts and bruises. I made excuses. People asked me, “Is he hitting you?” I would deflect it...to protect myself from the humiliation that I felt about anyone knowing that I would allow this to happen to me. I became an expert in covering up the bruises and injuries.

‘It is horribly embarrassing to walk around with bruises on your faces. You are constantly asked how you did it. It’s frankly humiliating.’ Depp denied ever striking a woman.

‘I had to hide the swelling’