Johnny Depp says he was a victim of domestic violence as he concludes evidence

Johnny Depp says he was a victim of domestic violence as he concludes evidence (Steve Helber/PA)

Johnny Depp concluded his testimony during the US defamation lawsuit brought against Amber Heard by saying that he had been the victim of domestic abuse.

The actor has been giving evidence in person at the trial in Fairfax County, Virginia, during which he has been asked about his own violent episodes and allegations that he physically assaulted his former partner.

He is suing Ms Heard for libel over a 2018 article she wrote in The Washington Post, which his lawyers say falsely implies he physically and sexually abused her.

Mr Depp has denied all allegations and says he is “ashamed” by the evidence shown to the court, which included video of him smashing objects in a kitchen and abusive text messages shared with his friend, actor Paul Bettany.

Mr Depp is suing Ms Heard for libel over a 2018 article she wrote in The Washington Post (Steve Helber/AP)

Incidents including a trip to Australia in March 2015, during which Mr Depp severed the top of his finger, and another time when he claims Ms Heard threw a can of mineral spirits at his head, have also been examined.

In other audio clips, Mr Depp is heard telling the actress to “shut up, fatass”.

In her final question to Mr Depp on Monday, his lawyer Camille Vasquez asked: “What did you say in response when Ms Heard said ‘tell the world Johnny, tell them I Johnny Depp, a man, am a victim too of domestic violence?’”

“I said yes, I am,” Mr Depp replied.

Earlier, the actor said that texts he sent to Mr Bettany about burning and drowning the Aquaman star were a joke based on a Monty Python sketch.

The court previously heard that during a 2013 text exchange with Mr Bettany, Mr Depp had written: “Let’s burn Amber.

“Let’s drown her before we burn her. I will f*** her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she’s dead.”

But Mr Depp said he and Mr Bettany had connected over their “abstract sense of humour” to deal with difficult situations, and the comments were never “intended to be real”.

“As these are private texts there was a lot … in context,” he said.

In audio clips played to the court Mr Depp is heard telling Ms Heard to ‘shut up, fatass’ (Steve Helber/AP)

“It’s important to know none of that was ever intended to be real and the language used which … yes, I am ashamed (of) has to be spread on the world like peanut butter.

“For example, the text that is about burning Ms Heard is directly from Monty Python and the sketch about burning witches and then drowning the witches.

“This is a film we’d all watch when we were 10 – it’s just irreverent and abstract humour.”

Mr Depp added that the relationship between Mr Bettany and Ms Heard was “abominable” as she viewed him as a “threat”.

He said: “Ms Heard despised Mr Bettany mainly because we had become such close friends and for her he was a threat and would take me away from her.”

Mr Depp has denied all allegations that he has ever assaulted Ms Heard.

He told the court that after reading the Washington Post article for the first time he felt like he had been “hit over the head with a two-by-four (piece of wood)”.

Ms Heard is also expected to take the stand in the trial, which is expected to last a total of seven weeks.