A friend of Amber Heard has claimed she was concerned that Johnny Depp might “accidentally kill” the actress.

Raquel Pennington alleged she felt “an obligation to stay close” to Ms Heard for her (Ms Heard’s) safety.

In a written witness statement submitted in the Hollywood actor’s libel trial against The Sun newspaper, Ms Pennington said: “Many times over the course of their relationship, Amber has confided in me about Johnny abusing her, both physically and verbally.

“Of course, there were also periods of joy and positivity during the course of their relationship.”

Ms Pennington claimed that the first time she was “really scared for Amber’s life” was the “Australia incident”.

Ms Heard, 34, has claimed Mr Depp subjected her to a “three-day hostage situation” in Australia in March 2015, alleging he was violent towards her.

Mr Depp, 57, denies the allegations.

In her statement, Ms Pennington said that after Amber recounted the alleged incident to her, she “voiced my concerns to Amber that Johnny might accidentally kill her while he was intoxicated or delusional like he was in Australia”.

The statement adds: “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.”

Ms Pennington gave her account of an alleged incident on May 21, 2016, at Mr Depp and Ms Heard’s LA penthouse.

Ms Heard has alleged that during a violent row, the Edward Scissorhands actor threw a mobile phone at her, which he denies.

Ms Pennington claimed that at 8.06pm that evening, Ms Heard sent her a text asking her to come to her apartment “right away”.

Ms Pennington was living with her then fiance, Josh Drew, in another of Mr Depp’s penthouses at that time.

In her statement, she claims that she found the couple 12 feet apart, and Ms Heard asked her to call for help, saying, “he hit me with the phone”, while Mr Depp was “yelling obscenities, shouting ‘she’s a f****** liar. Get the f*** out of here. Oh, poor her. A little phone hit you. Poor f****** you. Oh, oh, so sorry’”.

She alleged that when Mr Depp started to walk towards Ms Heard, she “stepped in front of him to shield her from him, with my hands up, lightly touching his chest, and said ‘stop, please’.”

Ms Pennington claimed: “To this he replied, ‘get your f****** hands off me’.

“He knocked my hands out of the way. I said ‘stop’ again and put my hands out again to stop him. Johnny yelled obscenities at me, directly into my face. He yelled at me to ‘get the f*** out’.”

Ms Pennington’s statement also says that later that evening, after the alleged incident, she went to two penthouses, including Ms Heard and Mr Depp’s, to “check the damage” and find Ms Heard’s purse and phone.

It says: “I discovered broken belongings, including my beads that had been thrown against the wall.

“Amber’s belongings had been ransacked, framed photos had been smashed, and glass broken.

“In the hallway there were puddles of spilled wine on the floor and splashed on the walls.”

Ms Pennington claimed a first set of officers arrived, questioned Ms Heard in the couple’s apartment, and saw the damage as “nothing had been cleared up”.

The statement adds: “Later on two more officers came to the apartment. We told them that a first set of officers had already come through and swept the scene, and that we still did not wish to file a report.”