Gary Lineker says Rebekah Vardy is guilty of scoring an “own goal” after she lost her high-profile Wagatha Christie case against Coleen Rooney.
Vardy, the wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, has been left to pay the significant legal costs incurred during the high-profile libel case after Mrs Justice Steyn ruled in Rooney’s favour on Friday. Vardy brought the case to court after Rooney accused her of leaking personal stories to the Sun newspaper.
But the decision to take the disagreement to court for a seven-day trial has ended up costing her millions of pounds and increased the damage to her reputation. Mrs Justice Steyn’s 75-page ruling has described her evidence as “inconsistent”, “evasive” or “implausible”.
She also said that Vardy and her agent Caroline Watt were likely to have deliberately destroyed potentially damning evidence.
WhatsApp messages between Vardy and Watt were unable to be included in the case after Watt dropped her phone off the side of a boat in the North Sea, while Vardy’s lost her copies while trying to back them up.
The case has gripped the nation ever since Rooney wrote the infamous words “It’s ……….Rebekah Vardy’s account” in October 2019 and former England striker and Match of the Day host Lineker has joined thousands in sharing his thoughts on Twitter. He tweeted : “Vardy scores rare own goal.”
Vardy said the judge “had got it wrong”, but also indicated she did not intend to appeal, saying “the case is over”. Speaking for the first time since the verdict, which came at midday on Friday, Mrs Vardy said in a statement: "I am extremely sad and disappointed at the decision that the Judge has reached.
“It is not the result that I had expected, nor believe was just. I brought this action to vindicate my reputation and am devastated by the Judge’s finding.
"The judge accepted that publication of Coleen's Post was not in the 'public interest' and she also rejected her claim that I was the 'Secret Wag'. But as for the rest of her judgement, she got it wrong and this is something I cannot accept.
"As I explained in my evidence I, my family and even my unborn baby, were subjected to disgusting messages and vile abuse following Coleen’s Post and these have continued even during the course of the trial. Please can the people who have been abusing me and my family now stop. The case is over. I want to thank everyone who has supported me."
Rooney said: “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 Vardy.”
