Revealed, a very personal post by Coleen that put her on the trail of Rebekah ‘the leaker’
IN matching polka dot pyjamas, Wayne Rooney and his three eldest sons smile for the camera – in a snap that enraged his wife Coleen when details of it were leaked to a tabloid newspaper.
The picture was among sensational posts and images at the heart of the £3million Wagatha Christie libel trial between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney which were made public for the first time yesterday.
Lawyers for both sides agreed to release documents which have formed the evidence throughout the seven-day case at London’s high court.
The case has now finished and trial judge Mrs Justice Steyn is expected to deliver a verdict later this year.
The ‘pyjamas post’ was repeatedly mentioned during the trial as lawyers discussed several posts on Mrs Rooney’s private Instagram account. Her legal
‘In a vulnerable situation’
team has accused Mrs Vardy, 40, of leaking information from the posts to journalists at The Sun newspaper.
Mrs Rooney, 36, said the pyjamas post was particularly hurtful as it came at a time when she feared for the future of her marriage after her husband, the former England captain, was stopped by police for drink-driving after leaving a club with 29-year-old Laura Simpson.
Mrs Rooney told the court: ‘I was in a vulnerable situation – there had been some wrongdoing by my husband. I was spending a lot of time at my parents’ house. I didn’t know how my marriage was going to work out.
‘Me and Wayne were trying to figure out our relationship and where we were going. But I didn’t want people to know that... I hadn’t settled on “This is it, we are getting back together”.’
Mrs Rooney, who met her future husband when they were both 12, said she had taken it as a personal betrayal when details of a picture from her private Instagram account were leaked to The Sun.
The photo itself did not appear but it was taken as a signal that the Rooneys had healed their relationship.
Mrs Rooney told the court she had posted personal information to her private Instagram account, which was followed by around 300 friends and relatives. She described how she had blocked all her followers except Mrs Vardy and then planted fake stories to expose the leaker, tweeting: ‘It’s... Rebekah Vardy’s account.’ Mrs Vardy then sued Mrs Rooney for libel and told the high court the Twitter post had prompted a torrent of abuse and ridicule. She has denied she was behind the leaks, but has admitted that her agent Caroline Watt may have been responsible.
In other documents released by the court, Mrs Vardy and her husband Jamie hit back at reports she was asked to ‘calm down’ during the Euro 2016 tournament.
Mr Rooney, 36, said he was asked to intervene by then-England manager Roy Hodgson over fears she was distracting the team. Mrs Vardy texted a report of the alleged exchange to her husband with the comment ‘Seriously???’
In a series of foul-mouthed messages, Mr Vardy replied: ‘F ****** a ******* ... Build us up to smash us back down x...’