Surrounded by cameras snapping, Hollywood actor Johnny Depp arrived at the High Court in London on 7 July 2020 to begin a long-awaited, very public showdown with his ex-wife, Amber Heard.

In the days that followed, the world was told highly embarrassing allegations and hugely personal details about the former couple's tempestuous relationship.

For the biggest English libel trial of the 21st century, the Royal Courts of Justice in central London was each morning surrounded by paparazzi; Depp's fans were there too, with several turning up outside court every day, often bearing gifts and flowers.

A hero to millions, Depp was a Hollywood rebel rather than a typical clean-cut pin-up; an actor who took eccentric and interesting roles, and fans loved him for it. However, details of the case showed another side to the star, who has made no secret of his drinking and drug use, prescription or otherwise.

But this, he argued, did not make him a "wife beater".

Depp was not suing Heard - although it might have seemed like that at times during the hearing - but News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publishers of The Sun, and the newspaper's executive editor Dan Wootton, over an article published in 2018 that referred to the film star as just that - a "wife beater".

NGN defended its article as true, relying on 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence claimed by Heard. All the messy details about the former couple's now not-so private lives played out in court, with both stars giving their own accounts of these events and their respective legal teams combing through those accounts in forensic detail.

Depp's reputation was on the line. He denied all the allegations strenuously and "is not and never has been a wife beater", his lawyers told the court. The case was never about money but "vindication", they said.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star's lead counsel, David Sherborne, argued that Heard "invented these stories of serious violence" and that in fact it was she who was the "abuser" in the relationship. Heard denied allegations of violence made against her in court.

Three months after three weeks of intense questioning during the trial, the judge's ruling has now been delivered. Depp has lost.

In his summary, the judge said that although Depp had proved "the necessary elements of his cause of action in libel", the defendants had show that "what they published in the meaning which I have held the words to bear was substantially true".

After examining all the evidence, the judge said he found 12 of the 14 alleged incidents did occur.

With the judgment now in, here is a recap of the case; the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence that NGN used in its defence – and what both Depp and Heard said about them - as well as details from their legal teams' closing arguments.

* Warning - this article contains images of injury and other graphic posts

Heard claimed Depp hit her for the first time when they were in Los Angeles in early 2013; the pair had met on the set of 2011 comedy The Rum Diary and began living together in 2012.

The actress said the alleged incident was sparked by her laughing at Depp's "Wino Forever" tattoo (pictured below on his shoulder) – famously changed from "Winona Forever" after his split from actress Winona Ryder in the 1990s – and that he slapped her three times.

She claimed the actor later cried and apologised, telling her that he sometimes turns into a "monster".

In court, Heard was asked about the allegation, and claimed it was the "first time I had been hit like that" since she was a child.

"It didn't feel painful necessarily, it just felt like a pop," she said.

"The first time he hit me, I didn't even know he was serious, I was laughing, I thought he was joking... I just didn't know."

She said she was left with "just redness" on her face.

In his witness statement, Depp denied hitting Heard and says this was "simply a false anecdote which has been made up". He said he did not recall having any conversation about the tattoo.

"I know that Ms Heard sometimes referred to me as a 'monster' and, as we continued into our relationship, she started making me believe that I was one," he said in his statement. "This was, however, never a reference to any violence."

Ryder, pictured above with Depp in the 1990s, was due to give evidence during the trial, along with another of his exes and the mother of his children, Vanessa Paradis.

They were dropped due to time constraints and because their witness statements were not disputed - both said Depp had never been violent while he was with them.

Heard claimed that in March 2013, Depp became angry because she had hung up a painting by her ex-partner Tasya van Ree near to her bed in her LA home.

She alleged Depp tried to set the painting on fire and hit her "so hard that blood from her lip ended up on the wall".

He also defaced a different painting by Ms van Ree, changing her signature to "Tasya van Pee", it was alleged.

There was some confusion about the exact date the violence over the first painting was alleged to have happened, but Heard said it was the night before Depp was due to be on set filming a documentary on The Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards.

A photograph of Depp, Heard, Richards and Heard's sister, Whitney Henriquez, was shown in court.

Asked in court if photos from that day showed Heard before or after she claims she was hit by Depp, the actress responded: "Which time? There were a lot of incidents in March."

She claimed Depp was on a 24-hour cocaine and whisky "bender" the night before going to the documentary set and told the court he was accusing her of having affairs with Ms van Ree and "also a gentleman I hardly knew".

The actor admitted in court that he "can be jealous" and said he and Heard had "several arguments about Ms van Ree".  However, he denied the allegation and said he simply asked Heard to move the painting from the bedroom "as a courtesy" and that she had an "extreme reaction".

In court, Depp said the suggestion he tried to set fire to a painting with a wooden frame and glass with a cigarette lighter was "rather ridiculous".

In his witness statement, he said: "I certainly did not hit
Ms Heard at all, then or ever, and her accusation that I hit her so hard that blood from her lip ended up on the wall is precisely the kind of picturesque but absurd lie she often tells."

In June 2013, the then couple visited a trailer park in Hicksville, California, with a group of people including Heard's sister, Whitney (Ms Henriquez, pictured outside the High Court below) and Depp's assistant, Nathan Holmes.

The court heard details of an email sent by Heard to friends before they went to the trailer, which apparently asked all those attending "to bring some food, booze and drug of choice – yay".

Heard said Depp was "taking drugs" and became "enraged" and "jealous" when one of her friends, referred to as Kelly Sue, touched her. He threw glasses at Heard, ripped her dress and damaged the cabin they were staying in, she claimed.

The actor denied saying to Kelly Sue: "Do you know how much pressure it would take to break your wrist?"

Depp admitted he drank, smoked marijuana and took magic mushrooms, but said Heard and her friends did too – as well as MDMA. In court, he denied an allegation that he took "considerably more drugs than anyone else that night".

He claimed Heard's friend touched the actress in an "extremely sexual manner" and that he did take exception, but simply removed her "hand from Ms Heard's body and told her not to do that".

There was an argument, Depp admitted, but said it was Heard who was angry at him, and that she "began to yell and scream".

The actor admitted he had broken "a bathroom sconce" by punching it because "I was very upset at being, yet again, treated as the – pardon the expression – the turd in the punchbowl and that was quite unpleasant".

He said damage was minimal and that he alerted the manager of the trailer, who replaced the bulb.

During a private flight from Boston to LA in May 2014, Heard claimed Depp, who had been drinking heavily, threw ice cubes at her, kicked a chair at her, slapped her and kicked her in the back before passing out in the toilet.

Depp said Heard "began to harangue him" as he was sketching in a notebook and that he tried to "playfully tap her on the bottom with his foot", at which he said the actress took "great offence" and "continued to verbally berate" him.

The court heard how Depp allegedly "screamed obscenities" at Heard, calling her a "slut" and a "whore", and accused her of "getting f*****" and having an affair with actor James Franco – a claim he described as "quite a stretch of her imagination".

Heard starred with Franco in 2015 film The Adderall Diaries - the pair are pictured below at a premiere for the film.

While Depp denied allegations of violence, he did tell the court that he suspected Heard was having an affair with Franco and said it had "since been confirmed that she was".

When it was put to him that he passed out in the toilet on the flight, Depp accused Heard of getting "physical" and said he "grabbed a pillow from the couch and slept on the bathroom floor".

Depp had admitted drinking but after details of text messages emerged - with him saying he "drank all night" and took "powders" and pills before drinking two bottles of champagne on the flight - the actor apologised in court for giving misleading evidence over his consumption.

In court, Depp was shown a text message he sent to his friend and fellow actor Paul Bettany days after the "Boston plane incident".

The text said: "I'm going to properly stop the booze thing, darling.

"Drank all night before I picked Amber up to fly to LA this past Sunday. Ugly mate. No food for days. Powders. Half a bottle of whisky.

"A thousand Red Bull and vodkas, pills, 2 bottles of champers on plane and what do you get?

"An angry aggro injun in a f****** blackout, screaming obscenities and insulting any f*** who got near."

Depp explained that "powders" referred to cocaine, and that the reference to "angry aggro injun" was "a reference to a Native American".

In court, he said: "I'm going to say that I made a mistake about the full intake on the plane."

He added: "It sounds like a very self-destructive moment and it was incorrect in my statement that I had not taken cocaine and things of that nature. I can only say my apologies to the court."

The couple went to Depp's private island in the Bahamas in August 2014 as the actor was detoxing; he said to "cure his dependence on painkillers", Heard claimed he was trying to give up other drugs, too.

Heard claimed Depp had "several manic episodes" during the trip and his private doctor had to be flown over to help. She alleged that he slapped, kicked and grabbed her by the hair during an attack.

The actress claimed she was "scared" during the trip, and in her witness statement said that at one point, Depp "kicked and pushed me so that I fell on the ground and grabbed my hair and slapped me. He was in such a rage that he smashed a door so hard that it splintered".

This composite image shows photos of a broken door at a property on the island, which was referred to as an exhibit during Heard's evidence.

Speaking about the trip, Depp told the court that withdrawing from drugs was "agonising", and said he was at the "lowest point I believe I have ever been in my life" during this trip.

In court, a text exchange between Depp and Heard’s mother, Paige, was read out, in which the actor called himself a "poor old junkie" and praised his then fiancee for getting him "clean", saying he "wouldn't be alive" without her help.

However, Depp told the court the messages were him saying good things about a daughter to her mother, and claimed that during the trip, Heard actually withheld treatment from him.

In his witness statement, the actor claimed that Heard "often intervened and withheld medicine from me" during the trip, describing it as "one of the cruellest things that she has ever done".

He denied pushing or attacking the actress during the trip, saying he was in "in no physical condition to push anyone".

This picture dated August 2014, the same month as the trip, was presented as an exhibit in court.

The exact date of the picture is unclear, but it shows Depp asleep with an upturned tub of ice cream and was presented as the kind of photo Heard would take of the actor as apparent proof of his behaviour.

Addressing the photo in court, Depp said: "I was obviously on the nod and very tired, falling asleep, and the ice cream then spilled all over my leg and then she took that… and showed me the next day and said, 'Look at what you've become… look at you, it's pathetic'."

Heard claimed Depp was "violent towards" her in LA in December 2014, and said he later texted calling himself a "f****** savage".

The actress presented the alleged text message exchange with her witness statement but said she could not remember what the alleged incident involved, so there was little detail about this claim in comparison with some of the others.

In his witness statement, Depp said: "I understand from my solicitors that the defendants also allege that I had been violent towards Ms Heard on 17 December 2014 and that afterwards I sent her text messages supposedly apologising for my behaviour and calling myself a ''f****** savage" and a "lunatic".

"The defendants' pleading does not even contain specific details of the violence alleged to have occurred on 17 December 2014 and as such I cannot provide any detail as to what happened on this date.

"In any event, I deny that I have ever been violent towards Ms Heard in any way, at any time and that, insofar as any text message was sent (and I do not remember whether they were), the words in such a text message would not refer to any violence."

During a trip to Tokyo with Depp's children, Lily-Rose and Jack, in January 2015, Heard claimed Depp shoved and slapped her and grabbed her by the hair, before standing over her and shouting while she was on the floor.

He denied the allegation.

In court, the actor rejected an assertion that he was using cocaine, MDMA and cannabis at the time and said he had not been violent.

"I am not one to smuggle cocaine or green cannabis or any such substance into Japan, especially not with my children on the trip with us," he said.

In court, he denied an allegation that he had "wrestled" Heard to the floor in their hotel room, saying: "It is not true and certainly not when my children were in adjoining rooms."

Heard claimed that after the alleged incident, when the actor had calmed down, he told her it was "the monster" and "the monster had now gone".

Throughout the trial, there were frequent references to the couple's use of the word "monster".

Depp told the court it was "placation" and said: "When you are with someone who cannot be wrong, you must devise a way to communicate with them that does not spur some monstrous argument or hideous attack or verbal abuse… it is like speaking to a child."

On the first day of the hearing, Depp told the court that "the monster" was something his ex-wife "became obsessed with".

Sasha Wass, representing NGN, suggested it was Depp's name for his "alter ego, the bad side of your character, the person who used to lose control, used to smash up hotel rooms, used to assault camera crew men or paparazzi, that bad boy image… when you lose control and become violent thug, that’s 'the monster', isn't it?"

Depp replied: "No. 'The monster' in situations with Ms Heard was when the argument would escalate."

In her witness statement, Heard said that "things got better" for a while after this alleged incident.

"It was so up and down that it became just how things were – fights and a violent incident, followed by a period where he was better," she claimed. "I was almost relieved after a big fight because I knew there would be a period of calm.

"After these incidents of violence, he would say the monster was gone, but it always happened again. He would write notes declaring his love and making all of these effusive promises that it would never happen again, that he had killed the monster."

During a period when Depp was in Australia filming for a Pirates Of The Caribbean film in March 2015, Heard accused him of violence in what she described as a "three-day hostage situation".

This picture, submitted to the court, shows damage to the rented house where they were staying.

Depp repeatedly assaulted Heard after an argument over his alleged drinking during their time there, she alleged.

This was shortly after their wedding in February 2015. In court, Heard claimed that by this point she had been subject to "repeated and regular physical violence".

One night, the actress claimed, Depp pushed her into a ping-pong table, tore off her nightgown and attacked her, before smashing a telephone - which she believes caused him to slice off the top of his middle finger.

A picture of the actor in hospital was shown in court.

However, the actor claimed it was Heard who caused this injury by throwing a vodka bottle at him, which she deniec.

He said he "ended up getting MRSA" after having surgery to put a pin in the broken bone.

The court heard that Depp used his severed finger, dipped in paint, to scrawl graffiti in the house on mirrors and walls in the house.

Depp admitted this in court, saying he was "in shock" over the injury.

Heard also claimed that he "urinated all over the house in an attempt to write messages", which he denied.

Asked to give her account of what happened in court, Heard denied lying about her claims and said Depp threw bottles "like grenades" at her.

She admitted she got angry "at times" but "not to the extent where I would throw anything at him offensively".

Both stars denied allegations of violence.

Heard and Depp went on their honeymoon in August 2015, travelling on the Eastern and Oriental Express in southeast Asia.

Heard alleged Depp "picked a fight" with her, hit her and pushed her against a wall by the throat, "causing her to fear for her life". The actor denied the allegation.

This photo was taken during the trip.

In a statement, Heard said: "I thought he might actually kill me. I thought I might die. It was pure adrenaline; I didn’t have time to think about the pain. Eventually he let me go."

Asked about Heard's claims in court, Depp said he was not drinking or using "substances" at this point "as I wanted everything to work out".

When it was put to him that the train journey "ended up with violence" the actor said there was "one incident in our cabin" and denied hitting Heard around the face and attempting to choke her.

An audio recording made a month after the trip - the court was told the couple would sometimes record conversations - was heard in court as Heard gave evidence.

NGN's barrister read out an exchange in which Depp said the couple had a "great time" on honeymoon "other than we had a fight on the train which was physical".

On 26 November 2015, Heard and Depp celebrated Thanksgiving with friends and family including Heard's father, David, Depp's son, Jack, musician Marilyn Manson and her friend, Raquel Pennington.

Heard claimed that after the others had gone home, Depp ripped her shirt and allegedly "threw her around the room" in his LA penthouse.

She claimed he also threw a wine glass and a "heavy glass decanter" at her, and pushed her over a chair, causing her to bang her head against a wall.

The court was shown a video of the occasion, in which laughing could be heard. David Heard flicked a scarf around in the clip and a male voice - identified as Manson - could be heard saying, "he's a monster" and "Jack, you're an absolute savage".

Depp's barrister asked Heard if the footage was filmed before or after the alleged violent incident; the actress said their fights typically took place behind closed doors.

Depp denied any allegations of abuse.

In a witness statement, he said: "On 26 November 2015, Ms Heard and I were indeed in Los Angeles together celebrating Thanksgiving.

"However, I have never abused Ms Heard in the way alleged or at all."

Heard claimed she suffered "one of the worst and most violent nights of our relationship" on 15 December 2015.

She said Depp threw a decanter at her at their penthouse in LA, then slapped her and dragged her through the apartment by her hair, allegedly pulling "large chunks" from her scalp, and submitted photos to the court of her alleged injuries.

She said Depp followed her upstairs and pushed her to the floor while shouting, "you think you’re a f****** tough guy", before headbutting her. The actress claimed that when she told Depp she wanted to leave him, he grabbed her and screamed: "I f****** will kill you – I'll f****** kill you, you hear me?"

Depp denied allegations of violence but said their "foreheads may have clashed" as he was trying to "grab her arms" to prevent her hitting him. Asked if he intended to headbutt Heard, he told the court: "No, not at all."

He claimed "Ms Heard fabricated the alleged violence", falsely claiming that "blonde hair on the floor was her hair". He alleged that it was actually Heard who "violently attacked" him, leaving the actor "with a number of scratches and swelling around my face".

Pictures of Depp's alleged injuries were submitted to the court.

The following day, Heard recorded an appearance for James Corden's The Late Late Show.

Samantha McMillen, Depp's stylist since 2002 who also worked for Heard during the couple's relationship, gave evidence that she saw "no visible" injuries when she worked with Heard for the recording.

Heard is pictured on the show below.

She said Ms Heard said to her after taping the show: "Can you believe I just did that show with two black eyes?"

Ms McMillen said in her witness statement: "Ms Heard did not have any black eyes, and had been visibly uninjured throughout the day and at that moment."

However, make-up artist Melanie Inglessis told the court she went to Depp and Heard's apartment to do her make-up ahead of the programme being taped.

She said Heard had "discolouration under her eyes, on the inner corner or her eyes by her nose", that the bridge of her nose was "red and swollen" and she had a "cut or a scab on her lip".

Asked what make-up she put on Heard, Ms Inglessis said: "Obviously concealer, trying to conceal some of the bruises."

She added that she told the actress that there was "no other choice" but to put red lipstick on her "to cover the injury on her lip".

On 21 April 2016, Amber Heard celebrated her birthday with a party.

Depp arrived late and was, according to Heard, "drunk and high on drugs".

During an alleged argument after guests had left, she claims he threw a bottle of champagne at her and shoved her to the floor several times before leaving a note reading: "Happy F****** Birthday."

Depp said he was not on drugs but "shocked" after learning at a business meeting that he had lost hundreds of millions of dollars.

He claimed Heard had been "drinking heavily" and that she attacked him while he was reading in bed, punching him in the face four times before he grabbed her arms to stop her.

The actor claimed that the next day Heard or one of her friends defecated in his bed, and that Heard later told the building manager that it was "just a harmless prank" – at which he point he "then resolved to divorce Ms Heard".

The court heard from the housekeeper who found the faeces, who took the photo below and said she was left "horrified and disgusted" by the discovery.

The question of who left faeces in the bed was discussed several times, with the trial hearing jokes including "Amber Turd" and "Amber in the dumps" emerging from the episode.

Heard said the suggestion she left the excrement was "absolutely disgusting" and that it was "unimaginable" that one of her friends had done it. The actress said she could not "fathom what adult would ever do such a thing".

She claimed that one of the couple's dogs, Pistol and Boo, may have been responsible for the mess - although the cleaner said the excrement was definitely not from a dog.

On 21 May 2016, Depp arrived at their LA apartment allegedly "drunk and high" the day after his mother's death.

Heard, who was there with friends, alleged the actor became "very angry", throwing her phone at her and hitting her in the eye before smashing "everything he could" with a magnum of champagne.

The actor said he went to the apartment with two security guards to collect his belongings after Heard and her sister "repeatedly" tried to contact him following what had happened at her party.

Depp denied any allegations of violence.

Shortly afterwards, Heard filed for a domestic violence restraining order against Depp and later that year gave statements in a deposition that was recorded (pictured above).

During her time in the witness box, Heard faced questioning about two men in her life – Elon Musk and James Franco - and the court heard that she was in touch with both after the alleged incident on 21 May.

The court was told about text messages allegedly between Heard and Tesla and SpaceX founder Musk from 22 May 2016, in which she told him that she was going to obtain a restraining order.

Musk offered to "arrange 24/7 security", the court was told, and apparently said: "The offer would stand, even if you never wanted to see me again… anyway, sorry for being an idiot. The radio silence hurts a lot. It only matters because I really like you."

A previous witness told the court Musk would regularly visit Heard while Depp was away.

In relation to the May 2016 allegation, the court was also shown CCTV footage of Heard travelling downstairs in a lift at about 11pm on 22 May 2016, before travelling back upstairs shortly after with Franco.

Heard denied having any affairs while she was in a relationship with Depp.

Words: Gemma Peplow and Bethany Minelle, arts and entertainment reporters

Graphics: Johnathan Toolan, designer

Photos: Getty, Reuters, Alan Davidson/Shutterstock, Warner Bros, court evidence