Johnny Depp threatened with perjury charges over ‘smuggling dogs’ into Australia

Johnny Depp has been threatened with perjury charges by Australia’s deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce after he smuggled his dogs into the country.

The US actor, 54, and his then-wife Amber Heard failed to declare their Yorkshire terriers Pistol and Boo to Australian customs after arriving by private jet in 2015.

Depp became embroiled in a war of words with Joyce who threatened to have the dogs killed if they didn’t “bugger back off to the United States”.

Depp poked fun at the quarantine row and said he “killed my dogs and ate them” under orders from a “sweaty, big-gutted man from Australia”.

Depp and Heard later recorded a video apology urging the public to ‘declare everything’ when they enter the country.

But Depp's former business managers, The Management Group, have now filed legal documents alleging the Pirates of the Caribbean actor “falsely claimed to authorities and public press interviews that the incident was a big misunderstanding”.

TMG claims Depp “pressured one of his long-term employees to ‘take the fall.’”

Responding to the claim, Joyce told the Australian Broadcasting Corp: “If the allegation is correct, there's a word for that - it is called perjury.

“We're an island continent and we take biosecurity very seriously and it doesn't matter if you think that you're Mr Who's Who of Hollywood, you're going to obey our laws.”

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joked that he “wouldn't want to come between Johnny and Barnaby... sort of the pirate meets the cowboy”.

Heard pleaded guilty to one count of falsifying border protection documents but two other charges of illegal importation were dropped.

The US actress was not convicted for smuggling her pets into the country, but was given a one-month good behaviour bond of $1000.