Coleen Rooney (Yui Mok/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Coleen Rooney has told friends she is “confident” she will win the Wagatha Christie trial and the result will see her “vindicated”, reports have stated.
Rooney, 36, carried out a "sting operation" in 2019, accusing Vardy, 40, in a social media post of leaking "false stories", which the latter denies and sued for libel.
Rooney defended the claim on the basis her post was "substantially true".
Vardy was accused of being a “hugely unreliable witness” while her lawyers condemned the public for deriving “entertainment” from her suffering, as they gave their closing arguments on the final day of the high-profile trial on Thursday.
A source close to Rooney told the Sunday Mirror that she is “confident” she won the trial and “feels relieved the truth is out there”.
They said: “After the trial, Coleen had a cup of tea and packed her bags for holiday, confident she had won.
“She has told friends she will be vindicated and she feels relieved that her truth is out there. This whole saga has been very painful.
“She isn’t counting her chickens as she knows the ultimate decision lies with the judge – but she’s adamant she has told the truth throughout and that justice will prevail.”
In a social media post that quickly went viral in October 2019, Rooney said she had set up a "sting operation" to catch whoever was passing on stories about her to The Sun, and concluded the leaks came from "Rebekah Vardy’s account".
The wife of former England star Wayne Rooney, who was dubbed "Wagatha Christie" for her detective work, publicly claimed Ms Vardy’s account had passed on three fake stories she had posted on her private Instagram account.
In closing arguments on the final day of the trial, Hugh Tomlinson said Vardy had suffered "very serious harm to her reputation" as a result of the accusation.
He said Ms Rooney had "failed to produce any evidence" that Ms Vardy had "regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower" of her private Instagram account by passing on information from it.
The barrister told the court: "Throughout this case, she [Ms Vardy] has sought to find out the position. The very first thing she said to Ms Rooney was, ‘Send me the evidence, send me the posts.’"
Mr Tomlinson added: "The position is clear, really. From time to time, Mrs Vardy and Ms Watt used the language of leaking. "What actually is happening is that they are gossiping. They are talking about passing on pieces of gossip to the newspapers."
The barrister said Vardy did not know to this day where this information came from, but she accepted it was "possible" that Ms Watt was "the source" of the leaks.
"She doesn’t want to be in the position of accusing her friend and former long-term agent of doing something wrong," he added.
Ms Justice Steyn will reserve her ruling until a later date.
