Johnny Depp was ‘very happy and comfortable’ before libel case verdict was announced

Johnny Depp seemed ‘very happy’ and ‘comfortable’ before the verdict was announced in the bombshell defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor celebrated his win in a pub in Newcastle with musician Sam Fender on Thursday night.

"He was in a great mood," an onlooker told People Magazine while another pub patron Gary Spedding said that the star seemed very gracious.

He told the outlet, "He'd been drinking with Sam Fender this evening. And then I believe that the bar opened a berth space upstairs for them or something along those lines. And that's where I saw him.”

"He was leaving from the upstairs place, which is where I managed to see him (to) shake his hand and (I) spoke to him very, very briefly. He smiled at me and said, 'Thank you,' and gave me a wink. And he seemed very gracious and happy with where he was and things like that," Spedding added.

The 32-year-old continued: "He seemed very happy and comfortable. I think that's really good. I'm glad that he's in the UK with members of a band that he's friends with and enjoying some music and enjoying himself because he deserves that."

"Once people spotted him and realized that he was there, there was quite a lot of support. Some people were clapping, lots of people got overexcited, as they would do with that," he told the magazine.

The jury announced the verdict of the high profile defamation case in favour of Depp and the actor has been awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.