I have recently read:
I never saw this movie (instead of "I have never seen this movie")
I believe that the Present Perfect is usually used with the adverb "never" because the event can still happen in the present. Example: I have never talked to my biological father (exception: I never talked to my biological father and I found out today that he is dead). Is that correct?
In which context the sentence in question could be correct with the Simple Past?
Best Answer
It is easy to find a context for that sentence. The idea is that verbs in Present Perfect tell us something about the present, and verbs in Past Simple tell us something about the past.
'Never' doesn't necessarily trigger the use of Present Perfect, because it can refer to the past and future, too, like in "I will never marry you!"
As for the 'never' in a past tense, just imagine that someone tells you about things that are gone, that are not connected with the present. For example, Jack tells about his childhood: