Rebekah Vardy committed a ‘clear betrayal of trust’ by leaking stories about Coleen Rooney anonymously or via third parties, the High Court heard today.
At the start of the £1million ‘Wagatha Christie’ battle between the two women, the judge heard that Coleen launched a ‘detective process’ to get to the bottom of who was responsible for the leaks and concluded that it was Rebekah.
As lawyers for both women came face to face for the first time today, David Sherborne, representing Coleen told the court that she tried to mediate to avoid the costly court case and feels that the money could have been ‘better spent.’
Coleen Rooney has revealed she is confident of winning her libel battle against Rebekah Vardy but regrets that it has got ‘this far’ as the case gets underway at the High Court today
Rebekah, wife of Leicester City and England striker Jamie Vardy, launched a £1million High Court libel action after Coleen accused her in an Instagram post a year ago of leaking stories about her and others to the media
Rebekah, wife of Leicester City and England striker Jamie Vardy, has launched a £1m High Court libel action after Coleen accused her in an Instagram post a year ago of leaking stories about her and others to the media.
Mr Sherborne told the court: ‘Mrs Rooney says that Mrs Vardy was responsible for the leak of the stories to the Sun but she’s equally sad that this matter should have got to court.
‘She’s been drawn into this litigation despite offering to mediate with Mrs Vardy because she recognises that in these life changing times, the time and money could be better spent.’
Rebekah’s barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC said Mrs Rooney’s posts were an ‘untrue and unjustified defamatory attack’ which was ‘published and republished to millions of people’
He said Mrs Rooney’s accusation ‘leaves the reasonable reader in no doubt that the defendant is accusing the claimant of consistently and repeatedly betraying her trust over several years.’
He added: ‘In fact, she did nothing wrong. Whatever leaks there were did not come from her.’
Before the hearing began today, MailOnline revealed Rooney is confident of winning the case but regrets that it has got ‘this far’.
Contrary to widespread speculation, neither Rebekah or Coleen or their famous footballer husbands are in court today.
It is believed Rebekah that she will deny being ‘The Secret Wag,’ the Sun newspaper’s source of stories about Coleen and other footballers’ partners.
The ‘Wagatha Christie’ saga began a year ago when Coleen tweeted that she had secretly planted three fake stories on Instagram in the months before, but said she blocked all her followers except Rebekah from seeing them
A spokesman for Coleen told MailOnline: ‘Coleen’s defence is already filed and in the public domain. It sets out the facts of her case and will be the same, whatever is decided today.
‘Given those facts, Coleen remains entirely confident in her position as she has been throughout.
‘It is still a matter of regret to her that the matter has been allowed by the other party to get this far.’
In a sensational 55-page defence document, Coleen has set out in granular detail why she thought Rebekah was behind the anonymous ‘Secret Wag’ column.
She described Rebekah as having an ‘established history and habitual practice of providing private information to journalists’.
A source said: ‘Becky is set to swear publicly and on oath to the High Court that she was not the so-called Secret Wag for the newspaper.’
The Secret Wag issue is seen as central by lawyers on both sides in establishing whether Rebecca did leak stories from Coleen’s private social media accounts to The Sun, which she has consistently denied.
Rebekah Vardy leaves after a training session at Planet Ice in Peterborough as she prepares to take part in Dancing On Ice 2021
The ‘Wagatha Christie’ saga began a year ago when Coleen tweeted that she had secretly planted three fake stories on Instagram in the months before, but said she blocked all her followers except Rebekah from seeing them.
After stories appeared which contained references to the faked posts, Coleen famously declared the results of her investigation, announcing: ‘It’s . . . Rebekah Vardy’s account.’
The mother-of-four, who shares Kai, 10, Klay, seven, Kit, four, and Cass, two, with Derby County footballer Wayne, also 34, is determined to fight off the libel case.
But for her part, Rebekah is seeking substantial damages and says she has suffered ‘severe and extreme hostility and abuse’ in the fallout after the claims were published on Instagram.
She is expected to make a bombshell courtroom denial of Coleen’s claims that she was ‘The Secret Wag’.
A source said yesterday: ‘Becky is set to swear publicly and on oath to the High Court that she was not the so-called Secret Wag for the newspaper.’
Coleen has a 55 page defence document in which she set out in granular detail why she thought Rebekah was behind the anonymous ‘Secret Wag’ column in The Sun