Wagatha Christie story ‘essentially about betrayal’
REBEKAH Vardy and Coleen Rooney’s libel battle is a “detective story” and “essentially about betrayal”, the High Court has heard.
In a viral social media post in October 2019, Mrs Rooney, 36, said she had carried out a “sting operation” and accused Mrs Vardy, 40, of leaking “false stories” about her private life to the press.
The wife of former England star Wayne Rooney was dubbed “Wagatha Christie” when she publicly claimed an account behind three fake stories she had posted on her personal Instagram account with The Sun newspaper was Mrs Vardy’s.
Mrs Vardy, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, denies leaking stories s to the media and is suing her fellow w footballer’s wife for libel, while le Mrs Rooney is defending the claim on the basis her post was “substantially y true”.
Both women arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice in London yesterday for the first day of a sev- en-day trial of the legal al action, with Mrs Vardy dy attending flanked by security while Mrs Rooney ooney arrived with her husband and also 36, who also played for r Everton and Manchester United and now manages Derby County.
Outlining Mrs Rooney’s defence case yesterday afternoon, her barrister David Sherborne told Mrs Justice Steyn, who is hearing the trial: “In essence, this is a detective story, and like any good detective story, you never find a person standing over the body with a smoking gun.”
He said the there was “inference ”, telling Mrs Justice Ste Steyn: “You do not have ha to be convinced bey beyond reasonable doubt, you just have to conclude that it is more likely than not that Mrs Vardy was responsible, either directly or through Ms [Caroline– Mrs Vardy’s friend and agent] Watt.”
Mr Sherborne continued: “If [Rebekah Vardy] gave Ms Watt the gun and the bullets, told her where to target them, told her what was happening and when, that makes her just as responsible as the person who pulled the trigger. To use an analogy, it is like hiring a hitman or woman.”
However, Mrs Vardy’s barrister, Hugh Tomlinson QC, said the suggestion that Mrs Vardy and Ms Watt were involved in a “conspiracy” and “campaign of deletion” in relation to evidence in the case is “completely baseless”.
Mr Tomlinson also said Mrs Vardy had to bring the libel claim to “vindicate her reputation”.
He said in written submissions: “The allegation in the post was and remains false: Mrs Vardy had not leaked information about Mrs Rooney or her friends and family to the Sun newspaper from her private Instagram account.
“Mrs Rooney did not have the ‘irrefutable’ evidence that she claimed to have had: her so-called ‘careful investigation’ was nothing of the sort.
“If anyone had been leaking information from Mrs Rooney’s private Instagram this was not done with Mrs Vardy’s knowledge or approval.”
Mrs Rooney is defending the claim on the basis of truth and public interest.