Johnny Depp's dogs: Amber Heard was repeatedly told she couldn't take pets to Australia, court hears
The actor Amber Heard was “repeatedly” told it would be illegal for her to take her two dogs with her to Australia, a former Johnny Depp employee has claimed in a London court.
Kevin Murphy, who worked for the Pirates of the Caribbean star for almost eight years, alleged that Depp’s then partner had “demanded” he make a false statement about the animals being “smuggled” into the country.
He also said that Heard, 34, had asked him to contact her former assistant Kate James and ask her to “lie under oath” to an Australian court.
In October 2015 Heard faced criminal proceedings in Australia for taking the couple’s two yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo, into the country illegally.
She and Depp, 57, recorded a nowinfamous video in 2016 apologising for doing so.
In a written witness statement submitted as part of Depp’s libel case against News Group Newspapers, Murphy, who worked as an estate manager for the Hollywood actor until 2016, said that on 11 and 12 October 2015 Heard had asked him to contact James and “ask Ms James to lie under oath to the Australian court prosecuting Ms Heard”.
“Specifically, Ms Heard wanted Ms James to give a false statement that Ms Heard was unaware that it would be illegal for her to bring her dogs into Australia,” Murphy said. “Ms Heard was aware that this was illegal, because I had informed her repeatedly by email, telephone and in person.”
Murphy alleged that he had told Heard he was “uncomfortable” with giving a false statement to the court and that “he would not ask Ms James to do so”.
The Sun’s lawyer, Sasha Wass, who pointed out that Murphy had subsequently made a misleading declaration in the Australian court case, accused him of lying.
“Why on Earth did you not go to Mr Depp to ask him to intervene rather than just lying on oath?” Wass asked.
“Because Amber wielded a lot of power and would have made my life miserable,” Murphy replied.
In his written statement, Murphy also said that Heard had “demanded verbally that I myself make a false witness statement regarding the dogs’ illegal entrance into Australia”.
“I expressed that I was extremely uncomfortable with doing so, to which Ms Heard responded with words to the effect of, ‘Well, I want your help on this ... I wouldn’t want you to have a problem with your job.’
“Ms Heard’s threatening language made me feel anxious and uneasy.”
Murphy said he had instructed Heard that she could not take the dogs to Australia because the relevant paperwork and permits were not complete and the required 10-day quarantine arrangements had not been put in place.
In a second witness statement, Murphy said he had been “shocked” to learn that Heard had taken the dogs with her, “despite our discussions and my warnings of severe legal ramifications”.
He alleged that he had cooperated with Heard’s request to provide her with a statement supporting her account for the Australian authorities, saying: “I felt extreme pressure to cooperate, despite knowing this would involve being untruthful.”
On 13 October 2015 he had signed a declaration about the circumstances in which the dogs were taken into Australia, he said, claiming that this had been prepared by Heard’s US lawyer. “That declaration contained statements that were not entirely truthful,” he said.
In May 2016, after Heard filed for divorce from Depp, he had sought legal advice over the declaration and retracting it.
“I felt I could take this step at this time because Ms Heard no longer had control or influence over my job,” he said. “This was my attempt to right a wrong.”