SYDNEY // Amber Heard, the wife of American actor Johnny Depp, pleaded guilty on Monday to providing a false immigration document amid allegations she smuggled the couple’s dogs into Australia, but managed to avoid jail time.
Prosecutors dropped two more serious charges that Ms Heard illegally imported the Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo, into the country last year, when Mr Depp was filming the fifth movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. A conviction on the illegal importation counts could have sent the actress to prison for up to 10 years.
The false documents charge carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a fine of more than A$10,000 (Dh28,151), but Magistrate Bernadette Callaghan sentenced Ms Heard to a one-month good behaviour bond.
The condition means she will have to pay a A$1,000 fine if she commits any offences in Australia over the next month.
Earlier, Ms Heard’s lawyer, Jeremy Kirk, told the Southport Magistrates Court on Queensland’s Gold Coast that his client never meant to lie on her incoming passenger card by failing to declare she had animals with her. In truth, Mr Kirk said, she was simply jetlagged and assumed her assistants had sorted out the paperwork.
Prosecutor Peter Callaghan said ignorance and fatigue were no excuse.
“The laws apply to everyone,” he said.
The debacle over the dogs began last May, when Barnaby Joyce, the Australian agriculture minister, accused Mr Depp of smuggling the terriers aboard his private jet when he returned to Australia to resume filming the Pirates movie.
Australia has strict quarantine regulations to prevent diseases such as rabies from spreading to its shores. Bringing pets into the country involves applying for a permit and quarantine on arrival of at least 10 days.
“If we start letting movie stars – even though they’ve been the sexiest man alive twice – to come into our nation [with pets], then why don’t we just break the laws for everybody?” Mr Joyce said at the time. “It’s time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States.”
Mr Depp and Ms Heard were given 72 hours to send Pistol and Boo back to the US, with officials warning that the dogs would otherwise be put down. The dogs boarded a flight home just hours before the deadline ran out.
Mr Depp and Ms Heard made an apology on video that was played in court during Monday’s hearing.
“If you disrespect Australian law,” Mr Depp says, “they will tell you firmly.”
* Associated Press
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
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