LONDON • Movie star Johnny Depp on Monday concluded giving evidence in his libel action against Britain's Sun newspaper after five days in the witness box.

He again rejected accusations he had hit his former wife, actress Amber Heard, and accused her of using violence against him.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean (2003 to 2017) star is suing the Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers, at London's High Court after the tabloid labelled him a "wife beater" in a 2018 article.

The court has heard evidence from the paper's lawyer that Depp, 57, violently attacked Heard on at least 14 occasions over three years from 2013, when enraged by jealousy and having consumed large amounts of alcohol or drugs.

The actor would become, according to Heard, 34, and by his own account, "the monster", the Sun's lawyer Sasha Wass told the court.

Depp rejected all the allegations that he attacked his wife and said Heard was lying, making up a choreographed hoax as part of an "insurance policy" dossier, and that she had attacked him.

The court was told on Monday that one incident occurred in 2016 after Heard's 30th birthday party, which Depp arrived at late following a meeting with his business advisers.

At that meeting, he was told his previous managers had lost US$650 million he had made from films and he owed US$100 million because he had not paid any tax for 17 years.

Appearing in the witness box for a fifth day, Depp was asked by his lawyer David Sherborne about the transcript of a conversation the couple had in 2016 after Heard had gone public with her accusations.

"Either I'm in a secret fight club... (or) I have been plotting to do this for three years," Heard said, according to Mr Sherborne. "No one is going to believe that."

Depp said he believed what Heard was saying was a "reverse confession".

"It seemed everything she accused me of was something she had done to me," he said.

Heard and Depp met in 2011 while co-starring in the film The Rum Diary and married in 2015. Heard filed for divorce 15 months later when she first said publicly that Depp had abused her and the divorce was finalised the following year.

The court has been shown a number of pictures Heard took of herself with injuries she says Depp inflicted.

Ms Wass said the photos were taken to show the Hollywood star when he had sobered up and in her witness statement, Heard had said she "never imagined" they would form part of a court case.

Depp said he was never shown the pictures.

Heard is due to give evidence on Friday with the trial expected to last three weeks.

REUTERS