Rebekah Vardy has been ordered to pay 90% of Coleen Rooney's legal fees following the high profile "Wagatha" court case earlier this year.
Mrs Vardy, 40, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie, was suing Mrs Rooney, the wife of England star Wayne, for defamation. In a viral social media post in October 2019, Mrs Rooney , 36, said she had carried out a "sting operation" and accused Mrs Vardy of leaking "false stories" about her private life to the press.
Mrs Rooney publicly claimed Mrs Vardy's account was the source behind three fake stories she had posted on her private Instagram account. Mrs Vardy denied leaking the stories and sued her fellow footballer's wife for libel, while Mrs Rooney defended the claim on the basis her post was "substantially true".
READ MORE: Coleen Rooney spots son on giant billboard in city centre
Hugh Tomlinson QC, representing Mrs Vardy, told London's High Court Mrs Rooney’s post was constructed like a “mini whodunnit” and had caused "serious harm" to his client.
David Sherborne, for Mrs Rooney, argued Mrs Vardy knew her agent Caroline Watt, who did not give evidence at the trial, was leaking stories to the press.
The posts, which went on to make stories in The S*n, included Mrs Rooney travelling to Mexico for a “gender selection” procedure, a car crash she had in America and a flood in her basement.
Mrs Vardy, 40, denied the accusations but during the trial in May this year accepted her PR Ms Watt may have leaked stories without her knowledge or consent.
Ms Watt’s phone was never examined after it "fell into the sea during a boat trip in Scotland", the court heard.
It was said a story appeared in The S*n about a car crash Mrs Rooney was alleged to have had while in America in January 2019.
In Whatsapp messages shown to the court, Ms Watt tells Rebekah The S*n’s Andy Halls was trying to do a story on the crash and later sends a picture to ask if it’s Mrs Rooney’s to which Mrs Vardy replies: “Yeah that’s it! Different pic though x”.
Mrs Vardy told the libel trial: “Andy Halls as far as I know already had the information, he already had the picture. I confirmed she had definitely crashed it.”
Mrs Rooney then said she posted a fake story on her Instagram in April 2019 suggesting she was looking into gender selection in Mexico.
After the story was posted Mrs Vardy messaged Ms Watt: “Coleen’s Instagram. Wonder if they are going for baby 5 x”
When asked about pictures of Mrs Rooney’s flooded basement, Mrs Vardy said she could not recall seeing them but began to cry when she was reminded by Mrs Rooney’s lawyer David Sherborne that her solicitors previously admitted she had.
The High Court also heard Mrs Vardy allegedly leaked stories about Chelsea player Danny Drinkwater and her husband’s Leicester City teammate Riyad Mahrez.
Mrs Vardy denied she was behind stories about Drinkwater's drink-driving and Mahrez not turning up to training.
Mrs Rooney posted her explosive tweet that sparked the libel battle on October 9 in 2019. It read: "This has been a burden in my life for a few years now and finally I have got to the bottom of it.
"For a few years now someone I trusted to follow me on my personal Instagram account has been consistently informing The S*n newspaper of my private posts and stories. There has been so much information given to them about me, my friends and my family – all without my permission or knowledge. After a long time of trying to figure out who it could be, for various reasons, I had a suspicion.
"After a long time trying to figure out who it could be, for various reasons, I had a suspicion. To try and prove this, I came up with an idea. I blocked everyone from viewing my Instagram stories except ONE account. (Those on my private account must have been wondering why I haven’t had stories on there for a while.)
"Over the past five months, I have posted a series of false stories if they made their way into the S*n newspaper. And you know what, they did! The story about gender selection in Mexico, the story about returning to TV and then the latest story about the basement flooding in my new house.
"It’s been tough keeping it to myself and not making any comment at all, especially when the stories have been leaked, however, I had to. Now I know for certain which account/individual it’s come from.
"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 denied the claims, but on July 29 of this year, Mrs Justice Steyn found Mrs Vardy was " party to the disclosure to The S*n of the Marriage, Birthday, Halloween, Pyjamas, Car Crash, Gender Selection, Babysitting and Flooded Basement posts. It is likely that Ms Watt undertook the direct act, in relation of each post, of passing the information to a journalist at The S*n".
Mrs Steyn also said she believed Mrs Vardy "knew of and condoned this behaviour".
Mrs Vardy has today been told she must pay 90% of Mrs Rooney’s costs for the trial, which concluded after nine days in May this year. In a judgment released today, Mrs Justice Steyn said the legal bill, which Coleen is said to not have finalised with the court, was last estimated in a witness statement by Coleen’s lawyer Paul Lunt at £1,667,860.48.
The judge said Rebekah should pay £800,000 on account by 4pm on November 15. The judgment also revealed Coleen wanted 100% of her costs paid and Rebekah wanted to pay 80% as the judge had found in her favour for several matters disputed at the trial.
The judgment also concluded Rebekah would have to pay the costs of journalists from The S*n.
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