Johnny Depp libel trial: Amber Heard alleged to have used phone during libel case

Libel case enters day 14

Amber Heard has been accused of using her phone during Johnny Depp’s libel trial.

Mr Depp’s lawyer, David Sherborne, told the court that Heard should “refrain from using her phone” to contact her sister, who is a witness in the case. The judge reiterated warnings on this but said he had no reason to believe that Ms Heard had been in touch with her sister.

Mr Sherborne did not suggest Heard had used her phone during court proceedings.

Depp, 57, is suing The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor Dan Wootton over an April 2018 article which labelled him a “wife beater” over claims he attacked Ms Heard, 34, during their relationship.

Day 14 of Depp’s libel case will see Heard’s sister – Whitney Henriquez – finish giving her evidence evidence.

During Friday’s proceedings, Depp’s lawyers said they had been provided with a video from “an anonymous source” which they say shows Amber Heard “attacked” her sister.

Sherborne said they had received a video from a “confidential source” on Thursday night, after Whitney Henriquez gave evidence earlier in the day that her sister had never attacked her.

On Thursday, Ms Henriquez denied Heard had ever hit her, or that she was “frightened” of her sister.

She also gave evidence saying she saw Depp punch Heard “really hard in the head ... multiple times” in Los Angeles in March 2015 in the so-called “stairs incident”.

Henriquez admitted that Heard punched Depp on that occasion, but only did so “in my defence” because her sister believed the actor was going to push her down the stairs.

Mr Sherborne told the court that Ms Henriquez had “tailored” her evidence “to meet her sister’s evidence”.

The barrister added that Mr Depp’s legal team had been provided with “material which we say demonstrates Ms Whitney (Henriquez) was lying yesterday (Thursday)”.

Additional reporting by Press Association