A security guard has claimed he had to retrieve Johnny Depp’s mobile phone from a homeless man in exchange for 425 US dollars (£335) and food including “three chicken tacos” after Amber Heard threw it off a balcony.

Starling Jenkins alleged he went to look for the device after finding Ms Heard using an app to try to locate it.

In a witness statement, Mr Jenkins also claimed that the weekend after her 30th birthday party, held on April 21 2016, he heard Ms Heard “frequently express her anger” that the Edward Scissorhands star had not gone to the party, but that she did not say anything, or make any “innuendos” about allegations of domestic abuse.

Mr Depp, 57, is accused of throwing a bottle of champagne at Ms Heard, 34, grabbing her by the hair and shoving her in a heated row at their Los Angeles penthouse in the Eastern Columbia Building after the party, which he denies.

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

Mr Jenkins, who works at the building and says he has provided security services to Mr Depp since 1993, said the actor had not arrived at the residence when he left on the night of April 21.

In his written statement for the High Court, he said he returned the next day, April 22, to escort Ms Heard and her friends to the Coachella music festival, held in the desert near Palm Springs.

He alleged that when he arrived at the apartment, he “saw no marks or bruises of any kind on her face or body”.

Mr Jenkins claimed: “When I entered the residence, Amber explained to me that she had thrown Johnny’s cell phone – and the wallet containing it – off the balcony the night before, and that she was using the ‘Find My iPhone’ application on another cell phone to locate Johnny’s phone.

“The ‘Find My iPhone’ application indicated that Johnny’s phone was somewhere on the streets below the balcony of the residence.

“I walked out the streets, did not see the phone, and I then asked several homeless people if they had it.

“One homeless man admitted to me that he had the phone, and he returned the phone to me in exchange for the following: (1) US$425; (2) three chicken tacos; (3) two bags of chips; (4) two apples; and (5) four bottles of water.”

Mr Jenkins said Ms Heard drove to Coachella with her sister and four friends in her Ford Mustang and he drove an SUV with their luggage and Ms Heard’s dogs.

He alleged: “During the weekend, I heard Amber frequently express her anger that Johnny did not come to her birthday party on April 21, but she did not say one thing or make any innuendos about allegations of domestic violence.

“She was hooping it up all weekend, and it was clear that she and her girlfriends spent much of the time at Coachella intoxicated.”

He alleged she “threw up at least once” in a car park and was “clearly dehydrated”, adding he “had to obtain ginger ale and crackers for her”.