Coleen Rooney has said she has 'no ill-will' towards Rebekah Vardy after the verdict was delivered in the sensational 'Wagatha Christie' libel trial.
Mrs Vardy, 40, lost her bitter courtroom battle with Mrs Rooney, 36, over a viral social media post, after a High Court judge found it was 'substantially true'. Mrs Rooney uploaded several fake stories to her private Instagram account in a six month sting to find out who was sharing private information to The Sun newspaper.
She publicly accused her fellow WAG of passing on the fake stories in the now-infamous Wagatha Christie tweet in October 2019. Hugh Tomlinson QC, representing Rebekah, told London's High Court Rooney’s post was constructed like a “mini whodunnit” and had caused "serious harm" to his client.
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Mrs Justice Steyn today ruled that Mrs Rooney's post was "substantially true" and that Vardy "knew of, condoned and was actively engaged" in leaks to the media by her agent.
The judge said it was “likely” that Mrs Vardy’s agent at the time, Caroline Watt, “undertook the direct act” of passing the information to The Sun.
Mrs Rooney has since issued a statement, saying that she is "pleased with the verdict". Though she added that she "never believed it should have gone to court".
She said: “Naturally, I am pleased that the judge has found in my favour with her judgment today. It was not a case I ever sought or wanted.
"I never believed it should have gone to court at such expense in times of hardship for so many people when the money could have been far better spent helping others. Both before and after my social media posts in October 2019, I made every effort to avoid the need for such a drawn out and public court case.
"All my attempts to do so were knocked back by Mrs (Rebekah) Vardy. This left me with no alternative but to go through with the case to defend myself and to end the repeated leaking of my private information to The Sun.
"These leaks from my private Instagram account began in 2017. They continued for almost two years, intruding on my privacy and that of my family.
"Although I bear Mrs Vardy no ill-will, today’s judgment makes clear that I was right in what I said in my posts of October 2019. Finally, I would like to thank all of my legal team, my family, friends and everyone who supported me, including the public, through this difficult and stressful time.”
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