Amber Heard ‘s friend Raquel ‘Rocky’ Pennington has claimed she warned the actress Johnny Depp might “kill her by accident” when he was drunk or “delusional”.
Depp, 57, is suing News Group Newspapers over a story published in The Sun in 2018 which branded him a “wife beater” – a claim which he strenuously denies.
The case continued at London’s High Court today, and Pennington gave evidence via video link from Los Angeles.
She lived in Depp’s penthouse block in Los Angeles between 2014 and 2016, and claims to have been Heard’s “best friend” at the time.
In her witness statement, presented to the court today, Pennington claimed she feared for her friend’s life after Heard told her Depp had thrown bottles at her during a boozy meltdown in Australia.
Depp denied being violent towards Heard during the row, in March 2015, and alleged she attacked him by throwing a glass bottle at him which severed his finger.
In her statement, Pennington said she told Heard that Depp might “kill her by accident”.
She stated: “The first time I became really scared for Amber’s life was the Australia incident…
“As soon as she returned from Australia, Amber came straight to my apartment… and told me about the biggest argument they had had to date…
“I voiced my concerns to Amber that Johnny might accidentally kill her while he was intoxicated or delusional like he was in Australia.
“But Amber continued to think she could help him and that things would get better, and I felt an obligation to stay close for her safety.”
In her statement, Pennington repeated Heard’s allegations that Depp threw a number of glass bottles at the actress during the row.
Pennington stated: “She [Heard] said that he was throwing glass bottles at her, and there was broken glass all over the ground which cut her feet.
“She said he backed her up against a bar and she was trying to support herself but her arms were sliding down and getting cut by broken glass.
“Amber told me that at this point Johnny ripped off her nightgown and she was naked on the ground, all wet with alcohol, and bleeding.”
She also claimed Heard told Depp had urinated on the furniture in the house and smashed the TV.
Depp claimed the top of his finger was severed when Heard threw a bottle at him during the row, while Heard alleged he sustained the injury when he smashed a plastic phone against a wall.
He also denied being violent towards his wife during the row in Australia.
Depp has denied he was ever violent towards his ex-wife and has accused her of abusing him during their marriage.
Lawyers for NGN are defending their case based on Heard’s 14 allegations of abuse, which include claims of bust-ups between 2013 and 2016.
The actor has argued his ex-wife was abusive towards him during the marriage, which collapsed in 2016.