Judge denies Johnny Depp chance to appeal Amber Heard ‘wife beater’ ruling

Enitan Daramola
2 Min Read
Johnny Depp | Image: SWNS

A US judge, Hon. Mr Justice  Nicol has denied Johnny Depp a chance to appeal the high-profile High Court libel trial he lost against The Sun newspaper.

After The Sun won the “Wife Beater” suit, Depp has since lost his role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts 3 having been asked to resign by Warner Bros.

The actor then vowed to appeal the suit, claiming that the judgement was surreal as he intends to prove the allegations wrong.

“Finally, I wish to say this. The surreal judgement of the court in the W.K. will not change my fight to tell the truth and I confirm that I plan to appeal.

“My resolve remains strong and I intend to prove that the allegations against me are false. My life and career will not be defined by this moment in time,” Depp said on November 6.

Nicol who ruled in favour of The Sun earlier has now denied Depp permission to appeal the decision, claiming he did not believe the appeal had a “reasonable prospect of success”.

He wrote: “The findings of fact by a first instance tribunal (particularly one, such as myself, who has heard oral evidence) are rarely open to challenge on appeal.

“In any event, I do not consider that the proposed grounds of appeal have a reasonable prospect of success (and that is also the case so far as the grounds of appeal suggest that I erred in principle or in law) and there is not some other compelling reason why permission to appeal should be granted.”

The High Court judge has also ruled that Depp must pay £520,000 to The Sun towards its defence bill by December 7 and then a further £108,235 by January 22.

Daily Star reports that the judge found that Depp beat Heard 12 of the 14 times he was alleged to have been violent towards her.

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