Wagatha Christie libel hearing told of Vardy’s ‘leaks’ to The Sun over Rooney

REBEKAH Vardy benefited from leaking stories about Coleen Rooney to The Sun as part of an “habitual practice” between her and the newspaper, the High Court has heard.

Mrs Rooney, 35, accused Mrs Vardy, 39, of leaking “false stories” about her private life in October 2019 after carrying out a monthslong “sting operation” which saw her dubbed “Wagatha Christie”.

The wife of former England star Wayne Rooney claimed her fellow footballer’s wife shared fake stories she had posted on her personal Instagram account with the newspaper.

“Nobody knew that there were fake posts, no one else was told, not even her husband Mr Rooney,” Mrs Rooney’s barrister David Sherborne told the court yesterday.

Mrs Rooney then wrote on Instagram and Twitter: “For a few years now someone who I trusted to follow me on my personal Instagram account has been consistently informing The Sun newspaper of my private posts and stories.

“I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. It’s .......... Rebekah Vardy’s account.”

Mrs Vardy, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, denies the accusations and is suing Mrs Rooney for libel in a case that has already cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, the court heard yesterday.

In the latest hearing, Mrs Vardy’s lawyers asked the High Court to throw out parts of Mrs Rooney’s defence, including allegations of Mrs Vardy’s close relationship with The Sun.

Hugh Tomlinson, QC, for Mrs Vardy, said: “The purpose of this application is to clear away what we say is a mass of irrelevant or peripheral material to save time and costs.”

Mr Tomlinson denied that Mrs Vardy wanted those parts of the defence thrown out because they would be embarrassing for her.

The court heard that Mrs Vardy was exposed to “widespread” abuse after the post, and “her children were also abused at school and it is a very serious matter from her point of view.”

Mr Tomlinson said sections of the defence about Mrs Vardy’s relationship with The Sun newspaper are not relevant to the trial.