Amber Heard tearfully describes alleged violent incidents involving Johnny Depp

Amber Heard was tearful in court (Elizabeth Frantz/AP)

Amber Heard has accused Johnny Depp of performing a “cavity search” on her, as she tearfully described several incidents in which she claimed the actor had been violent towards her.

The Aquaman star said she had not known how to react following the alleged incidents as she gave evidence in the US defamation trial brought against her by her former partner.

Mr Depp 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 while they were together.

The Aquaman star said she had not known how to react following the alleged incidents as she gave evidence in the US defamation trial (Elizabeth Frantz/AP)

On the first day of her evidence on Wednesday Ms Heard told jurors that the early days of their relationship were “a beautiful and strange time” and that she had “fallen head over heels in love” with Mr Depp.

But she went on to describe multiple incidents in which the actor had allegedly been verbally and physically abusive towards her.

Describing an incident in May 2013, she told Fairfax County District Court in Virginia that Mr Depp had become upset about “affection” being shown to her by one of her friends and accused her of “touching my f****** girl.”

“He ripped my dress… he rips my underwear off and then he proceeds to do a cavity search… he said he was looking for his drugs, his cocaine. It made no sense,” she said.

Ms Heard told the court: “I just stood there staring at the stupid light, I didn’t know what to do… while he did that.

“I didn’t say ‘stop’ or anything.”

Mr Depp sat in the courtroom but did not make eye contact with Ms Heard as she continued to give her evidence (Elizabeth Frantz/AP)

Mr Depp sat in the courtroom but did not make eye contact with Ms Heard as she continued to give her evidence.

Earlier, the actress told the court she had been “heartbroken” the first time Mr Depp had allegedly been violent towards her and slapped her three times across the face.

“(It was) seemingly so stupid and insignificant (but) I will never forget it, it changed my life,” Ms Heard said.

“He slapped me across the face, and I laughed because I didn’t know what else to do.

“I thought this must be a joke… I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t want this to be the reality.”

She continued: “I knew it was wrong and I knew that I had to leave him and that broke my heart because I didn’t want to leave him… the best thing that ever happened to me.

“I wish I could sit here and say I stood up and I walked out of that house and I drew a line and I stood up for myself.

The actress told the court she had been ‘heartbroken’ the first time Mr Depp had allegedly been violent towards her (Elizabeth Frantz/AP)

“I was just looking at the dirty carpet trying to will myself to get up, to walk out of the door.”

Ms Heard said Mr Depp had then started crying and got on his knees to apologise and told her he had “put the monster away”.

“(He said) I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again, it’s done,” she said.

“I sat in my car and I felt like I sat there forever… just trying to will myself to have the strength to know what I should do in this moment because I was heartbroken.”

Asked if she had stayed in the relationship following the incident, she replied: “Yeah I did, I believed there was a line, he wouldn’t cross it again and that was it.”

Jurors heard that she and Mr Depp’s security team had often had to look after the actor when he would “lose control of his body”, changing his clothing and cleaning up vomit.

Ms Heard told the court that the couple had engaged in a ‘whirlwind romance’ following the press tour for their 2011 film The Rum Diaries (Elizabeth Frantz/AP)

Ms Heard also told the court that the couple had engaged in a “whirlwind romance” following the press tour for their 2011 film The Rum Diaries.

“We had to be really under the radar because as Johnny pointed out, the world would blame me and call me a home-wrecker even though I had nothing to do with it,” she said.

“It was beautiful… I felt like this man knew me and saw me in a way no-one else did.

“It felt like a dream, it felt like absolute magic. I fell head over heels in love with this man.”

The court has already listened to four days of evidence from Mr Depp, who said he was “obsessed with the truth” and claimed that it was he that was the victim of domestic abuse.

The trial continues.