‘Wagatha Christie’ libel case under way

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’s Sheffield-born striker Jamie Vardy, denies leaking stories to the media and is suing her fellow footballer’s wife for libel, while Mrs Rooney is defending the claim on the basis her post was “substantially true”.

Both women arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice in London for the first day of a seven-day trial of the legal action, with Mrs Vardy attending flanked by security while Mrs Rooney arrived with her husband, also 36, who also played for Everton and Manchester United and now manages Derby County.

Outlining Mrs Rooney’s defence case, her barrister David Sherborne told Mrs Justice Steyn: “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 there was “inference”, telling Mrs Justice Steyn: “You do not have to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt, you just have to conclude that it is more likely than not that Mrs Vardy was responsible.” The case continues.