Amber Heard ‘arrested for domestic violence’ in 2009

The shock news comes just weeks after the actress was granted a temporary restraining order against her estranged husband Johnny Depp after claiming he hit her in the face with an iPhone during an argument.

TMZ reports the Danish Girl star was arrested and c-harged for misdemeanour domestic violence after a heated exchange with her then-girlfriend, Tasya van Ree, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on September 14, 2009.

According to law enforcement sources and documents, Heard, now 30, allegedly grabbed and struck Ree on the arm, which triggered the arrest.

Heard’s mugshot was taken and she appeared in court the next day, but prosecutors declined to move forward with the case as both women were residents of California, not Seattle, according to TMZ.

Amber Heard and Tasya van Ree attend the premiere of The Rum Diary in 2011. Picture: SplashSource:Supplied

In the audio of the court hearing obtained by the US website, a judge tells the Rum Diary actress that prosecutors could reconsider and refile the c-harges within two years, however this did not happen.

Heard is referred to as Amber van Ree in the audio. She legally changed her name in 2008 after entering into a domestic partnership with the now 40-year-old artist and photographer.

The pair had a private ceremony in New York in 2011 once same-sex marriage was legalised in the US state but did not make it legally official, according to The Mirror.

The couple split after Heard started dating Depp in 2012 and Heard petitioned to change her name back in 2013. It was granted the following year, three months after she and Depp got engaged.

It was recently reported that Heard’s continued friendship with her ex-partner led to the Pirates of the Caribbean star’s alleged violence towards his estranged wife.

Amber Heard and Tasya van Ree in 2011. Picture: SplashSource:Supplied

Heard filed for divorce last month, claiming in court papers that she endured verbal and physical abuse throughout their relationship. The 52-year-old actor has denied the allegations through his lawyers, stressing the “brevity” of their 15-month marriage.

“Given the brevity of this marriage and the most recent and tragic loss of his mother, Johnny will not respond to any of the salacious false stories, gossip, misinformation and lies about his personal life. Hopefully the dissolution of this short marriage will be resolved quickly,” a rep for Depp said in a statement to People magazine.

Heard and Depp reportedly first met in 2009, while they were both working on the film The Rum Diary. The pair began dating in 2012, around the time Depp ended his decade-long relationship with French actress Vanessa Paradis. They married in February of 2015 at a private civil ceremony at their home in Los Angeles.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard arrive for the European premiere of their film, The Rum Diary, in 2011.Source:AP