Johnny Depp has denied hurling a phone at Amber Heard in the final confrontation of their turbulent marriage.

Details of the alleged incident in their Los Angeles home as the couple were breaking up emerged on the fourth day of Depp’s cross-examination at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

Depp, 57, is suing the Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an article that called him a “wife beater” and referred to “overwhelming evidence” that he had attacked Heard.

Depp denies ever hitting Heard, 34, who has submitted details of 14 occasions during their relationship when she claims he assaulted her.

The court heard that after almost a month apart from Heard, Depp returned to the complex of five penthouses he owned in the Eastern Columbia building in central LA in May 2016 to pick up some personal effects.

The couple had last met in April when they argued after Depp had been detained at a business meeting and arrived late for Heard’s 30th birthday party.

Sasha Wass QC, representing the Sun, accused Depp of having lost his temper on that occasion when Heard criticised his late arrival.

Depp replied: “I don’t mind being criticised at all, but that was beyond criticism. She was lighting me up.”

Wass suggested that at one stage he had “picked up a magnum bottle of champagne and you threw it at [Heard] and it missed … and glass smashed”. Depp denied that he had done so. He eventually said he had texted his security team, who were outside the penthouse, and said: “Gotta go, got to get out of here.”

The dispute became more embittered the following day after pictures were sent to Depp showing excrement in their bed, the court heard. Heard insisted it was from one of their pet dogs; Depp claimed it was human waste, left by one of Heard’s friends.

Depp told the court that when he first learned about the defecation in the bed, he had thought it was funny and an “oddly fitting end to the relationship”.

Wass said he had made jokes about “Amber Turd”. Depp replied: “It was one of the most absurd, unexpected statements that I have ever witnessed in my life so, yes, initially I did laugh because it was so strange.”

When Depp returned to the apartment on 21 May, the dispute erupted again, the court heard. Wass said Depp was stressed at the time because his mother had recently died and, separately, he had lost a lot of money. Wass suggested Depp had taken drink and drugs to cope with the stress.

Depp disputed that. “There was too much to deal with on such painful and important levels, that I could not escape into any drug-induced, pain-free setting or numbness. I did not inebriate myself,” he said.

Anticipating trouble, Depp arrived with two security guards who waited outside the penthouse, the court heard. He went in and a dispute began with Heard.

Wass accused Depp of bringing up the subject of defecation, but Depp repeatedly said Heard had begun the conversation. As the row escalated, they called a friend of Heard’s who Depp alleged was responsible.

Wass said Depp grabbed the phone and threw it at Heard’s face. “It made contact with the right-hand side of her face,” she said. “Then you asked if she would like it if you pulled her hair back.”

To both accusations, Depp replied: “No, ma’am.”

Depp said the security guards had run into the room when they heard Heard screaming: “Stop hitting me, Johnny.” He added: “I was 20ft away from her. When she saw them, she changed to: ‘Now you will never hit me again?’” Depp and the security guards then left.

A police officer, Melissa Saenz, an expert in domestic violence, attended the Eastern Columbia building penthouse later that evening after receiving an emergency 911 call. Giving evidence over a remote video link from Los Angeles, she said Heard had been crying but did not see any evidence of any injury on her face.

Saenz said her examination of Heard’s face had been “extremely thorough”. She added: “I did get a clear look at her face … She refused to answer questions. [She] looked like she was flushed from crying.”

Saenz said Heard had been uncooperative. Saenz did not write up a report on the incident; the case was recorded as closed and deemed to be a “non-crime”. Saenz said: “I searched the entire flat. There was no damage and there was no broken glass, nothing out of the ordinary.”

Heard later went to court to obtain a restraining order against Depp. Wass said that by then a mark on her face had become more prominent.

Questioned by his barrister, David Sherborne, in court, Depp said no other woman in his life had ever alleged that he had hit them.

Depp said Heard would drink two bottles of wine a night. Sometimes she filmed him surreptitiously. If he failed to follow her “rules”, then “all hell would break loose”.

While they were watching television, he said, “If my hand wasn’t holding Ms Heard’s hand or I didn’t have my arm around her or whatever, she would reach over and grab my hand and put it on her thigh, so that I was then feeding the attention that she wanted,” Depp said. “She has a routine, and if that routine isn’t met to her standards, then there was going to be a problem.”

The court went into private session for a few minutes on Thursday. The judge, Mr Justice Nicol, has previously agreed that claims of sexual violence in the libel case would be heard behind closed doors.

The hearing continues.