The trial is starting..
Amber Heard arrived today at the High Court with her girlfriend Bianca Butti to face off with her estranged husband Johnny Depp for the start of a blockbuster three-week libel trial over claims he beat her.
The 34-year-old, who was wearing a red polka dot scarf over her face, approached the court hand in hand with her sister, Whitney, and lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, before joining 38-year-old Miss Butti near the entrance.
Depp, who wore a black face covering and sunglasses, is suing The Sun and its executive editor Dan Wootton over claims the actor behaved like a 'violent monster' towards his former wife during their troubled two-year marriage.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star, 57, was called as the first witness and began giving his testimony this morning. He will strenuously deny claims he hit his estranged wife and is expected to spend three days at the stand.
At the start of the Depp hearing, judge Mr Justice Nicol explained that the trial 'is by judge alone - there is no jury'.
He added: 'It will be for me to make any necessary findings of fact and rule on any issues of law.'
The judge said that 'for the most part, this trial is being conducted in public', but added that 'parts will be in private'.
Johnny Depp's barrister David Sherborne told the court that Amber Heard had filed three additional witness statements 'since the last hearing'.
He added that the most recent two - which were sent to Depp's lawyers on Sunday and 'about midnight last night', respectively - raised 'new allegations' against Depp.
Mr Justice Nicol gave the defendants permission to rely on the new statements from Ms Heard.
But the judge gave Depp permission to speak to his lawyers about those statements - 'and those only' - during his cross-examination, which is usually not allowed.
Johnny Depp, wearing a dark suit and white shirt, has been called as the first witness in the high-profile trial.
Depp is not visible on the video-feed to an overspill court room where members of the press are seated.
At the outset of his evidence, Mr Sherborne asked Depp about a recording of a conversation between the actor and Ms Heard on September 26 2015.
Depp explained that both he and Ms Heard recorded conversations during their relationship.
In her witness statement, Ms Heard had said that she recorded their conversations 'to remind Johnny of what he would do when using drugs and alcohol because he wouldn't remember, or deny what he had said'.
But Depp said that was not correct, telling the court that Ms Heard's later recollection of their conversations would sometimes be 'radically different'.
He added: 'I, at the time, thought that the best thing to do was to record the conversation, so I retrieved my telephone and brought it to where we were talking and I said, 'I'm going to record this conversation', just so that she knew.
'I wanted it to be out in the open.'
Depp failed in a bid last week to have Heard banned from the court until she was called by NGN as a witness - meaning she would be prevented from watching her ex-husband give evidence.
It means Heard will sit close by - 'her eyes boring into him' - as he answers questions about their turbulent married life, a source close to her said last night.
Depp has spent the past two days being 'prepped' by Adam Waldman, his high-flying American lawyer. Both arrived in London over the weekend to prepare for the trial, which will also see a number of Hollywood figures giving evidence, including Depp's former partners Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-showdown.html
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