Johnny Depp’s libel case against the Sun over allegations he was violent and abusive towards his ex-wife Amber Heard, which was due to begin on Monday, has been adjourned to a later date.

Mr Justice Nicol made the announcement at the high court on Friday. “I have reached the reluctant conclusion that the trial does have to be adjourned,” he said.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star, 56, is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publishers of the Sun, and the newspaper’s executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an April 2018 article that referred to him as a “wife-beater”.

A two-week trial was due to begin in London on Monday, at which Depp, Heard and a number of Hollywood figures were expected to give evidence.

The judge said two of Depp’s legal representatives had already had to self-isolate, adding: “No one can predict whether others involved in the case, and I do not exclude myself, will either become infected or need to self-isolate because … they have come into contact with someone who has or may have the virus.”

He said travel restrictions between the UK and France, where Depp is currently, and the US, where Heard lives, were a further factor in his decision.

The judge also said it would be more difficult to assess key witnesses over video link and that having evidence heard in different ways would be “most undesirable”.

There would also be problems with witnesses in California giving evidence “in the middle of the night”, given the time difference, he told the court.

The judge said that, while “social distancing” measures could be taken to ensure that lawyers, members of the public and press attending court sat apart, there were other factors to take into consideration.

Nicol added: “I recognise that I am not conducting a criminal trial, but the large number of lawyers involved, as well as the public and press who wish to attend, mean that the numbers involved would be no different.”

He said it had been “said many times” that libel trials should take place as quickly as possible to either provide vindication to the claimant for damage to their reputation, or to dismiss their claim, but that “these are not ordinary times”.

At a hearing on Wednesday, Adam Wolanski QC, for NGN, said Depp wanted the trial to be adjourned “not because of the coronavirus, but because he cannot face the prospect of his lies about his relationship being exposed because he’s a coward and because he knows he’s going to lose”.

Wolanski told the court that Heard, 33, who is giving evidence in the Sun’s defence, was “prepared to move heaven and earth to make this trial happen and to come and give evidence”.

He said: “She is currently in California, but despite all the travel problems that exist and despite the risks to her health of travelling, she has found a flight leaving Los Angeles today.

“It is essential to Ms Heard that the ordeal that Mr Depp has subjected her to for many years is brought to an end.

“She explains that he has used, for many years, his physical, financial and professional power to embarrass and harass her and people around her, including witnesses in this case.”

Lawyers for Depp told the court he was unable to attend the trial because he was in France, which is in lockdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and was also unable to give evidence via video link.

Wolanski read out a text message Depp sent to Christian Carino in August 2016, in which he said of Heard: “She is begging for global humiliation. She is going to get it.”

He described Heard as “gold-digging, low-level, dime-a-dozen, mushy, pointless”.

Depp bemoaned “that time I blew on a 50-cent stripper” and added: “I would not touch her with a goddamn glove.” The text concluded: “Now I will stop at nothing.”

Wolanski said: “And he has stopped at nothing.” He submitted that Depp had conducted a “sustained campaign of vicious leaks and smears”, and that Heard wanted the trial to go ahead so “the four-year campaign of abuse by Depp can be brought to an end”.

Jenny Afia, representing Depp, said her client was “extremely keen for these proceedings to go ahead as soon as possible so that he could vindicate his reputation”, but that the worldwide spread of Covid-19 required the court and the parties “to be realistic, responsible and, above all, to be safe”.

She said it was likely that London would go into full lockdown in the coming days or weeks. “As much as he wants to be here on Monday in person, he will physically not be able to attend,” she said.

“If Mr Depp cannot get here, there is no possibility he can give evidence via video link from his remote location in the south of France.”

The libel claim against NGN and Wootton arises from the publication of an article in the Sun in April 2018 that ran under a headline that referred to Depp as a “wife-beater”.

Depp has brought separate libel proceedings against Heard in the US, which the court has previously heard are ongoing.

Depp and Heard met on the set of the 2011 comedy The Rum Diary and married in Los Angeles in February 2015.

Heard obtained a restraining order against Depp in May 2016 after accusing him of abuse, which he denied.

The couple settled their divorce out of court in 2017. Heard donated her $7m (£5.5m) settlement to charity.