Johnny Depp has claimed that “all hell would break loose” if he failed to follow his ex-wife Amber Heard’s “rules”.

On his fourth day in the witness box, the Hollywood star gave an insight into the couple’s tempestuous relationship, and told the High Court no other woman had ever accused him of hitting them.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean actor has been giving evidence in his libel action against The Sun newspaper over allegations he was violent towards Ms Heard, 34.

He is suing The Sun’s publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor Dan Wootton, over an April 2018 article which labelled him a “wife beater”.

Speaking about his relationship with Ms Heard, Mr Depp told the court it was “normal” for the couple to have dinner in front of the television, and to lay or sit on the couch together.

He said: “But on occasion, out of nowhere, if my hand wasn’t holding Ms Heard’s hand or I didn’t have my arm around her or whatever, she would reach over and grab my hand and put it on her thigh, so that I was then feeding the attention that she wanted.

“It was almost as if there were rules, she has a routine and if that routine isn’t met to her standards then there was going to be a problem.”

Mr Depp’s barrister, David Sherborne, asked what would happen if Mr Depp broke his ex-wife’s “rules”, to which he replied: “An argument would ensue and all hell would break loose.”

Mr Sherborne earlier asked Mr Depp if, other than Ms Heard, “any woman ever accused you of hitting them in your 57 years?”

Mr Depp replied: “No, sir.”

The barrister read out medical notes on Ms Heard, which referred to her “history of substance abuse, including addiction to cocaine and liquor” as well as the actress having had “severe outbursts of anger and rage”.

Asked by Mr Sherborne: “Does this accord with how you experienced Ms Heard or not?”, Mr Depp replied: “Yes.”

Mr Sherborne also asked Mr Depp about the “monster” and his responses to Ms Wass during cross-examination that it was a term he used to “placate” Ms Heard, with which the actor agreed.

The actor told the court: “The monster story was something that Ms Heard … she rather liked the idea that I was the monster.

“If you have had an argument and you are trying to explain your position in an argument and things do escalate, that for her would become the monster.

“Any time I didn’t comply or agree with what was her position, then she would call it the monster and then the monster grew from there into this whole whatever she wanted it to be, and she used it quite a lot.”

During four days of evidence, Mr Depp has been questioned by NGN’s barrister Sasha Wass QC about 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence towards Ms Heard, all of which he denies – which NGN relies on in their defence against the actor’s libel claim.

On Friday, Mr Depp was questioned about Ms Heard’s 30th birthday party at the Eastern Columbia Building in Los Angeles in April 2016, and the so-called “defecation incident” in which faeces were found in the couple’s bed.

Mr Depp told the court he thought the incident was “a fitting end to the relationship”.

The star told the High Court he had been “convinced” it was either his ex-wife herself, or one of her friends who was involved in the episode.

It was put to him that, one of the couple’s two Yorkshire terriers, “had problems with her toilet habits”, to which the actor said the dogs “were very well trained”, but that “Boo was not as trained as Pistol”, their other dog.

He later told the court it was “a mystery” who defecated in the bed, “and it was not left by a three or four-pound dog”.

Mr Depp added: “I was convinced that it was either Ms Heard herself or one of her cohort involved in leaving human faeces on the bed.”

The court briefing went into private on Friday to consider evidence relating Ms Heard’s allegations of sexual violence.

The exact nature of the allegations was not disclosed to the press or public and remain unknown.

The actor’s case against NGN and Mr Wootton arises out of the publication of an article on The Sun’s website on April 27 2018 with the headline: “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”

NGN is defending the article as true, and says Mr Depp was “controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Ms Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs” between early 2013 and May 2016, when the couple split.

The pair met in 2011 and began living together in 2012 before marrying in Los Angeles in February 2015.