High Court judge due to rule on ‘Wagatha Christie’ libel trial today
The dispute between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney will be judged today
Last updated 29th Jul 2022
Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney are due to find out who has won their High Court libel battle in the “Wagatha Christie” case today.
In a viral social media post in October 2019, Mrs Rooney accused Mrs Vardy of leaking “false stories” about her private life to the press.
The wife of former England star Wayne Rooney publicly said that Mrs Vardy was behind the fake stories.
Mrs Vardy, who is married to Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, denied leaking the stories and sued her fellow footballer’s wife for libel, while Mrs Rooney defended the claim on the basis her post was “substantially true”.
After a highly-publicised libel trial in May, judge Mrs Justice Steyn is now due to publish her ruling today.
Mrs Rooney’s barrister says Mrs Vardy has had a history of leaking information
Over seven days in courtroom number 13 at the Royal Courts of Justice, the two footballers’ wives each gave evidence as revelations from the case made daily headlines across the British press.
During the trial, Mrs Rooney’s barrister David Sherborne argued that Mrs Vardy had a “habitual and established practice” of leaking information about those she knew – through her friend and former agent Caroline Watt – to The Sun newspaper.
Discussing Mrs Rooney’s viral “reveal” post, her barrister added: “It is what she believed at the time… and it is what she believes even more so now that we have got to the end of the case.”
Mrs Vardy’s representative said Mrs Rooney failed to produce any evidence
However, Hugh Tomlinson QC, for Mrs Vardy, said Mrs Rooney had “failed to produce any evidence” that Mrs Vardy had “regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower” of her private Instagram account by passing on information from it to The Sun.
Mr Tomlinson said the libel battle was a “very simple case” when “one clears away the conspiracy theories”.
He added: “Mrs Vardy’s case is and always has been that she did not leak the information nor did she authorise anyone else to leak.
“She does not know to this day what happened,” Mr Tomlinson said, adding: “She does not know where this information came from.”
The barrister added that Mrs Vardy suffered “very serious harm to her reputation” as a result of Mrs Rooney’s post.
The judgment is due to be handed down by Mrs Justice Steyn at 12pm today.