Amber Heard says Johnny Depp pressed so hard on her neck she could not breathe during ‘three-day hostage situation’

Actress claims James Franco saw her injuries after separate alleged attack by Depp in 2016

Amber Heard has claimed Johnny Depp pushed her down against a home bar and pressed so hard on her neck that she could not breathe during what she described as a “three-day hostage situation”.

On her second day of giving evidence in her ex-husband’s libel case, Ms Heard said she was cut by broken glass on the surface of the bar during the alleged incident in Australia in March 2015.

“He was putting so much pressure on my neck that I couldn't get any words out,” she told the High Court.

“I was naked and my feet were bare... I remember I just kept trying to get purchase on the slick floor and the slick countertops.”

Ms Heard said she told Mr Depp during the incident: “Johnny, Johnny, it's me, it's me. You're really hurting me, stop please.”

“It was like he couldn't hear me,” she added.

Mr Depp’s lawyer, Eleanor Laws QC, challenged the 34-year-old actress’ description of the trip to Australia as a “hostage situation” and argued this was a “total mischaracterisation” of the events.

Ms Laws also suggested that scars shown in a photograph which Ms Heard said showed the injuries she sustained in Australia were “far more akin” to self-harm scars.

The actress rejected that suggestion, arguing that she had never self-harmed.

The exchange came as part of Mr Depp’s libel action against The Sun newspaper over a 2018 article which referred to the actor as a “wife beater”.

News Group Newspapers (NGN) has defended the article as true and said the actor was “controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Ms Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs”.

Mr Depp has denied that he was violent towards Ms Heard and has claimed she was violent towards him.

On Tuesday, Ms Heard said actor James Franco questioned her about her face when they met the day after an incident in 2016 in which Mr Depp was allegedly violent towards her.

Mr Franco allegedly asked her: “Oh my god, what happened to you?”, as they took a lift to her penthouse in Los Angeles' Eastern Columbia Building late on 22 May 2016.

She has alleged that on the day before, Mr Depp threw her mobile phone at her, hitting her in the face, during a row at the couple’s apartment - an allegation which Mr Depp denies.

The court also heard how Tesla founder Elon Musk reportedly offered Ms Heard “24/7 security” after she told him she was going to obtain a restraining order against Mr Depp in May 2016.

Additional reporting by PA