Amber Heard’s sister tells court she saw Johnny Depp punch her in head several times

Johnny Depp repeatedly punched Amber Heard, and scrawled messages in blood like a scene from The Shining, her sister says.

Amber Heard's sister, Whitney, right, says she saw Johnny Depp, left, hit Amber in the head several times, and that messages Depp scrawled – some in blood – on a mirror, centre, were like a scene from The Shining. Pictures: Getty/Supplied/Getty

Amber Heard’s sister saw Johnny Depp repeatedly punch the actress in the head at the couple’s penthouse in Los Angeles after she accused him of being unfaithful, a court was told on Thursday.

Whitney Henriquez also said that earlier the same month she had seen photographs of damage caused when Depp had used blood from the severed tip of a middle finger to write messages on the walls. She said it looked like a scene from the horror film The Shining.

Ms Henriquez was giving evidence at the High Court in London, where Depp is suing over an article in The Sun in 2018 that described him as a wife beater.

Affair accusations

Ms Henriquez said that her sister had entered her neighbouring penthouse apartment in Los Angeles in March 2015 wearing her pyjamas, saying she had discovered that Depp was having an affair. She said when she went to Depp’s apartment he started pulling her backwards so “he could get to Amber”. Ms Henriquez said she feared she was going to be pushed down the stairs.

“Amber suddenly lurched forward and hit him and said, ‘Don’t hit my sister’,” she told the court. “I was standing next to them when Johnny grabbed her by the hair with one hand and I saw him punch her really hard in the head with his other hand multiple times.”

Ms Henriquez said that after taking her sister back to her own apartment she heard “someone breaking and smashing things, and Johnny screaming ‘f***ing c***’, ‘you f***ing whore, I hate you’.”

Whitney Henriquez — Amber Heard’s sister — leaves court. Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Earlier Heard, 34, told the court that she was taking on a “powerful entity” in the film industry by making domestic abuse allegations against Depp. The couple married in 2015 but soon separated, then divorced in 2017.

“What woman has ever benefited from being a victim of domestic violence, particularly by a powerful entity in their own industry?” she asked at the conclusion of four days of evidence.

Heard said that she had not wanted the detailed allegations against Depp to become public after she obtained a domestic violence restraining order against him in May 2016.

‘More and more attacks’

“Every day, more and more attacks were coming out against me and accusing me of being a liar and forcing me into a position where I was increasingly aware that I would have to, at some point, speak to prove [them],” she said.

“I did not want to expose the totality of what really happened to me … I didn’t want to put Johnny [in a position] where the world or his kids would know fully what he was or what he could do.”

Johnny Depp gestures as he leaves after attending a hearing of his libel trial against News Group Newspapers on Thursday. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP

Heard, who starred in Aquaman, described how Depp severed his finger and used blood to write messages on walls during a “three-day hostage situation” just weeks after their wedding.

Depp, 57, is suing Dan Wootton, executive editor of The Sun, and News Group Newspapers. Sasha Wass, QC, for NGN, part of News UK, the parent company of The Times, said that the “global destruction” discovered by Heard at their home while Depp was starring in Pirates of the Caribbean in March 2015 demonstrated the “derangement of Mr Depp’s mind”.

Messages in blood

The actor threw glass bottles at Heard “like grenades” when she tried to stop him drinking whisky, then ripped off her nightgown and held her naked by the neck, the court was told.

Heard said that she suffered cuts to her hands, arms and feet from the broken glass and locked herself in a bedroom while Depp took MDMA and continued drinking.

She said that he had punched a phone into a wall at their rented house in Queensland. The next morning she went downstairs to find that Depp had used blood from the severed tip of the middle finger of his right hand to write messages on walls. He was playing “death metal, blasting really loud” and she could see “tonnes of broken glass”, with gravy and mashed potato smeared on surfaces.

The Sun relies on 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence, all of which are denied by Depp. The case continues.

The Times

US actress Amber Heard says she was the victim of repeated attacks. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP