In Johnny Depp’s corner – Irish therapist to the stars struck off over sex claims
JOHNNY DEPP is being supported through his libel case against ex-wife Amber Heard by a former celebrity therapist who was struck off for seducing vulnerable female patients.
Belfast-born Beechy Colclough, who once counted Kate Moss and Sir Elton John as clients, has been accompanying Depp to court in Virginia where the actor is suing actress Ms Heard for defamation, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Dressed in black, wearing dark glasses and for much of the early stages of the trial a mask, Colclough, who has appeared on ITV’s This Morning and the nowdefunct GMTV, has been spotted arriving and leaving Fairfax County Court with the star. A source close to Colclough said: ‘Beechy has been friendly with Johnny for the last three years so of course was going to be supporting him in court.
‘He has become a fundamental part of Johnny’s inner circle but perhaps for obvious reasons was worried about being spotted, given it is such a high-profile case.
‘He has been out of the public eye for some time now and so thought wearing a Covid mask to court might be a good way of protecting his identity.’
The 73-year-old shamed therapist was seen lingering outside the court in dark glasses last Tuesday after Depp, who is suing Miss Heard over a 2018 article in The Washington Post in which she described herself as ‘a public figure representing domestic abuse’, spent a gruelling day on the witness stand. Depp, 58, and Colclough have been friends since at least July 2020, when they were pictured together by photographer Ross Halfin in London.
In 2006, Colclough was exposed for having affairs with a number of vulnerable patients in his Harley Street consulting rooms.
He was struck off by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
At the time, one of his victims, Janet Bell, said: ‘I feel completely liberated and no longer feel any shame. What he did is little better than abuse or rape.’
Ms Bell, who had visited the therapist for help with an eating disorder and binge-drinking, received a letter from the BACP notifying her he had not contested the claims and he could no longer practise under its banner.
As well as Ms Moss and Sir Elton, Colclough also helped Michael Barrymore, the late comedian Caroline Aherne and supermodel Sophie Anderton. Sir Elton was so grateful for Colclough’s help that he agreed to write the foreword to the therapist’s book, The Effective Way To Stop Drinking.
After he was banned from practising, Colclough launched himself as a rock singer, forming a group called Beechy Colclough and His Band.