London: Actor Johnny Depp repeatedly assaulted his new wife Amber Heard during a three-day rampage on the Gold Coast and falsely blamed her for slicing off the tip of his finger, a judge has found following the "libel trial of the century" in Britain.
In a highly anticipated verdict in London, High Court judge Andrew Nicol ruled The Sun newspaper did not defame the Pirates Of The Caribbean star by labelling him a "wife beater" in a 2018 online article, and threw out the case.
Johnny Depp had denied Amber Heard's accusations of violence.Credit:Getty Images
Depp's legal team quickly pledged to appeal the "perverse" and "bewildering" decision but The Sun framed it as a win for victims of domestic violence.
"Domestic abuse victims must never be silenced and we thank the judge for his careful consideration and thank Amber Heard for her courage in giving evidence to the court," the paper said in a statement.
Both Depp, 57, and Heard, 34, gave evidence during a three-week hearing at London's High Court in July, laying bare their tempestuous private lives and making allegations of serious domestic abuse, drug-taking and affairs.
The court was told of an explosive argument inside a Gold Coast mansion rented from MotoGP world champion Mick Doohan in 2015 while Depp filmed the latest instalment of the blockbuster Pirates of the Carribean franchise.
In his ruling, Justice Nicol rejected a series of allegations Depp made about the altercation, including that Heard had put out a cigarette on her husband's face and sliced off the top of one of his fingers after throwing a vodka bottle.
Justice Nicol instead said Heard was "the victim of sustained and multiple assaults by Mr Depp in Australia".
Justice Nicol said Depp was jealous of actor Billy Bob Thornton and believed Heard was having an affair with him before she came to Australia. He also said Depp was also angry because he believed Heard was unwilling to sign a post-nuptial agreement, and did not like the latest instalment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
"It is a sign of the depth of his rage that he admitted scrawling graffiti in blood from his injured finger and then, when that was insufficient, dipping his badly injured finger in paint and continuing to write messages and other things," he said.
"I accept her evidence of the nature of the assaults he committed against her. They must have been terrifying. I accept that Mr Depp put her in fear of her life."
The Sun needed to prove its description of Depp as a "wife beater" was substantially true to avoid a major defamation payout and costs order.
The court heard of 14 occasions where Depp allegedly choked, punched, slapped, head-butted, throttled and kicked his then wife. Justice Nicol said all but two of the 14 incidents had been proved to the civil standard.
He did, though, say Heard's description of the Gold Coast incident as a "three-day hostage situation" was hyperbole.
"She was not being kept in the house against her will," he said.
"The house was set back on a long drive, but there were people around.
"Ms Heard had a mobile phone. She agreed in cross examination that she could have contacted anyone. She ...spoke of phoning her sister. Ms Heard could have left the house."
The couple was embroiled in a scandal with the Australian government at the time over the fate of their pet dogs Pistol and Boo, which had been illegally smuggled into the country by Heard.
Depp's legal team tried to use the infamous Pistol and Boo incident to prove Heard was not credible.
The trial, heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London over three weeks in July, was thought to be the biggest libel case in British history.Credit:Getty Images
However, Justice Nicol said that while Heard lied to an Australian customs officer by denying she was bringing animals into the country, its "relevance for her credibility is marginal at most".
He also rejected suggestions that Heard had pressured her former assistant Kate James to take the blame for the incident.
"I had no evidence that Ms James was ever, in the event, actually asked to sign a statement of any kind and, in any event, no evidence that she was asked to sign an untruthful statement."
The couple met while making The Rum Diary in 2011 and married in February 2015. Heard filed for divorce 15 months later.
Heard's lawyer, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, said in a statement on Monday: "For those of us present for the London High Court trial, this decision and judgment are not a surprise."
Depp is also suing Heard for defamation in an American court over an opinion piece she wrote for The Washington Post under the headline: "I spoke up against sexual violence - and faced our culture's wrath". The piece did not specifically name Depp.
Depp's lawyers on Monday accused Justice Nicol of ignoring evidence about Heard's behaviour.
"The judgement is so flawed that it would be ridiculous for Mr Depp not to appeal this decision," they said.
Bevan Shields is the Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
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2020-11-02 17:58:00Z
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