Tuesday 10 May 2022 04:41 PM Rebekah Vardy takes centre stage at Wagatha Christie trial trends now
Rebekah Vardy today denied being a leaker and said she 'deeply regrets' comparing Peter Andre's manhood to a chipolata as she took took to the witness stand at the £3million Wagatha Christie libel trial.
With her hair tied into a bun, the wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy walked across the courtroom and passed within inches of her rival Coleen, who glanced in her direction for the first time all day.
She then took to the stand and swore on the Bible before being quizzed by Coleen's barrister David Sherborne.
The WAGs have been at war since October 2019 after Coleen accused her fellow footballer's wife of leaking 'false stories' about her private life, before claiming she had uncovered the culprit after carrying out a social media 'sting operation'.
Coleen publicly claimed Rebekah shared three fake stories she had posted on her personal Instagram with The Sun, a claim Rebekah vehemently denied - leading her to launch the costly libel action which finally reached trial today.
At today's cross-examination, Rebekah repeatedly denied leaking information to newspapers in the first few minutes of her cross-examination by Mrs Rooney's barrister.
Mr Sherborne said: 'You wouldn't want to be called a leaker, would you?'
Rebekah replied: 'I have been called a leaker and it's not nice.'
The barrister later asked if Rebekah respected people's privacy, to which she replied: 'Yes, I do.'
He then asked her questions about an interview she gave to the News Of The World about Mrs Vardy's claimed sexual encounter with singer Peter Andre.
Mr Sherborne showed what appeared to an A3 print out of the article to Rebekah in the witness box before reading the headline: 'Peter's hung like a small chipolata, shaved, slobbery, lasts five minutes'.
The barrister read excerpts from the article, in which it was claimed Mr Andre had managed 'just five minutes of sex with Rebekah' and in which she said he had 'the smallest trouser equipment I've ever seen' that was like a 'miniature chipolata'.
Mr Sherborne suggested to Rebekah that the News Of The World was the 'highest circulating newspaper at the time', read by some four million people.
He asked her whether it was 'respectful' of Peter Andre's 'right not to share this information' about their sexual encounter with a newspaper.
She replied: 'I was forced into a situation by my ex-husband to do this. It is something that I deeply regret... It is not nice to read and I understand why this is being used and to me this is mudslinging and I was also threatened with mudslinging by Mrs Rooney's team.'
Asked the question again by Coleen Rooney's barrister David Sherborne, Mrs Vardy said: 'The circumstances around it were completely different.'
She later said she did not ask Mr Andre for his permission or tell him it was going to happen in advance.
Mr Sherborne asked: 'Did you feel particularly strongly about the size of his manhood that it should be made public?'
Mrs Vardy replied: 'It was something that I was forced to say.'
Among the key developments at today's sensational Wagatha Christie showdown -
Rebekah's barrister says she 'had no choice' but to bring the libel claim against Coleen to 'establish her innocence and vindicate her reputation'; He tells court she has been 'jeered and heckled at football matches' and 'made the butt of endless jokes' since the allegations emerged; Called 'an evil rat face b****' on social media, with posts going on to say she 'should die' and 'her baby should be put in an incinerator'; Coleen's famous Instagram sting was not a 'careful investigation' that produced 'irrefutable' evidence as she suggested, Rebekah's barrister adds; Rebekah 'has no knowledge' of incident that saw agent Caroline Watt's phone fall into the North Sea and 'doesn't know' if she was a leaker; 'Claim Rebekah was involved in 'conspiracy' and 'campaign of deletion' of evidence is 'completely baseless''; Coleen's barrister, David Sherborne, tells court the case hinges on 'betrayal' – whether it was by Rebekah who betrayed Coleen by leaking information to The Sun or Coleen's agent, Caroline Watt, who was responsible; Suggests that if Ms Watt was responsible for leaking the stories 'she was doing Rebekah's dirty work like a hitman' - and accuses Rebekah of 'lying' for suggesting otherwise; Rebekah's claim she sat behind Coleen at the 2016 Euros because they were the 'nearest seats available' was 'untrue', according to new witness statement; 'Harry Maguire's fiancée Fern Hawkins was 'upset and embarrassed' by Rebekah's WAGs paparazzi photo at 2018 World Cup'; Rebekah 'had the means, motive and opportunity to leak stories about Coleen';Rebekah Vardy pulled up in a black cab today accompanied by two security guards. Her husband, Jamie, was not among the entourage
Coleen Rooney, wife of Derby County manager Wayne Rooney, arrives with her husband at the Royal Courts of Justice in London this morning
Happier times: Rebekah and Coleen celebrating England's win against Wales at Stade Bollaert-Delelis in France in 2016. The moment was discussed in court today
Today saw the toxic feud between Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy spill out into the High Court after months of painstaking pre-trial hearings.
Below is a summary of the evidence as it was heard in court:
Rebekah 'had to vindicate her reputation' following Coleen's 'flawed' investigationToday, Hugh Tomlinson QC, representing Rebekah, began setting out her case to the court.
At the heart of the dispute are three 'fake' stories which Coleen maintains that she posted on her personal Instagram stories as she attempted to discover who was leaking information about her and her family.
These were about Coleen claiming that she was travelling to Mexico to find out about gender selection, making a return to TV and flooding taking place at her new home. All three stories later appeared in The Sun.
Mr Tomlinson said that, on October 9, 2019, Coleen published a post to more than two million followers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook which 'accused Mrs Vardy of being the person who, over a period of years, had consistently and regularly leaked information about her, her friends and her family, to The Sun newspaper'.
He told the court 'it was expressed in a dramatic style', referring to the way Mrs Rooney posted 'It's .......... Rebekah Vardy's account'.
Addressing the Instagram post, Rebekah's barrister, Mr Tomlinson, told the High Court today: 'The allegation in the post was and remains false: Mrs Vardy had not leaked information about Mrs Rooney or her friends and family to the Sun newspaper from her private Instagram account.
'Mrs Rooney did not have the 'irrefutable' evidence that she claimed to have had: her so-called 'careful investigation' was nothing of the sort.
'If anyone had been leaking information from Mrs Rooney's private Instagram this was not done with Mrs Vardy's knowledge or approval.'
He continued: 'Mrs Vardy made strenuous but unsuccessful attempts to settle the case but the post was not taken down.
'As result, Mrs Vardy had no choice but to bring this libel action to establish her innocence and vindicate her reputation.'
Mr Tomlinson said Coleen said in the post that she had saved and screenshotted the original newspaper stories which showed that, as she claimed, Rebekah's account had saved and shared her Instagram posts.
He told the court: 'We say that this careful investigation was flawed from the start because it is obvious ... anybody who knows anything about the operation of social media knows the fact somebody has an account does not necessarily mean that they are the only person who accessed it.'
He said the meaning of the post was that Mrs Rooney had made the accusation against Mrs Vardy.
Coleen ''revelled in' being dubbed 'Wagatha Christie'' and wrongly assumed Rebekah was like Bridgerton's Lady Whistledown'Mr Tomlinson said Coleen had 'revelled in' being dubbed 'Wagatha Christie', and had shared posts which mocked her up as the renowned crime writer Agatha Christie.
Coleen also took screenshots of herself and Miss Marple in the wake of her 'revelations' which also were compared with a Scooby-Doo episode where a villain is unmasked by the gang of adventure-loving 'meddling kids', the court heard.
Mr Tomlinson accused Coleen of 'revelling' in the social media response, and keeping copies of some of the jokes on her phone.
He said: 'She screenshot Agatha Christie, herself as Miss Marple, and someone had done a sequence from Scooby Doo when they unmasked the masked villain, and she had screenshotted that.
He said she was not acting he public interest but was 'revelling in the attention of the Agatha Christie story.'
Mr Tomlinson added that Coleen had wrongly assumed that Rebekah was like Bridgerton's Lady Whistledown.
The character is a mysterious writer of gossip is the pseudonym of Penelope Featherington in the popular Netflix drama.
Rebekah's barrister Mr Tomlinson said Coleen was convinced Rebekah was the source of the short lived Secret Wag columnist on The Sun who gave behind the scenes gossip about the Premier League's biggest stars.
Mr Tomlinson said: 'In the unlikely event that there is a real secret Wag, it isn't Mrs Vardy.'
'There has been 'deliberate deletion of evidence' in Wagatha case'Mr Sherborne said there had been a 'deliberate deletion of evidence in this case.
Speaking of the destruction of all media files and WhatsApp messages on Rebekah's phone, he said: 'Mrs Vardy's own expert describes this turn of event as 'somewhat surprising'
'Our expert says there can only be one explanation.
''Mrs Vardy was responsible for deliberately deleting them.
'One would only delete them if you are guilty or trying to conceal incriminating evidence.'
Coleen's barrister: 'Case is essentially about betrayal'Putting forward Coleen's argument, David Sherborne QC suggested the libel case was 'essentially about betrayal'
'The central question that the court needs to decide now seems to be whether: it is Coleen Rooney that was betrayed by Rebekah Vardy because she knew Caroline Watt, her PR and close confidante, was leaking Mrs Rooney's private information to The Sun and condoned this, as well as directly leaking information herself, or whether, instead, it is Mrs Vardy that was betrayed by Caroline Watt because she had leaked this information without Mrs Vardy knowing it and had lied to her by denying all along that she had leaked anything.'
Mr Sherborne added Mrs Rooney is defending the claim on truth and public interest grounds.
'Rebekah lied after her PR agent dropped out because of ill health'Mr Sherborne accused Rebekah of lying after her agent Caroline Watt dropped out of the case because of ill health.
After this happened, she changed her position and began pointing the finger towards her former confidante suggesting she may be the source of the leaks, he said.
The barrister told the court: 'As is always the case with Mrs Vardy, she denies, denies and denies but then when it becomes deniably obvious she lies and she distances herself and she said the stories were leaked without her approval.
'She said she felt lied to and betrayed.'
Coleen was seen wearing a plastic boot on her left leg today after she suffered a fracture following a fall at her home in March
Emerging from a black London cab, Rebekah arriving outside the steps of the High Court this morning for the start of the Wagatha Christie trial
Mr Tomlinson said that, as a result of the post, Rebekah - who was seven months pregnant at the time - and her family were subjected to horrible abuse, including one post calling her an 'evil rat-faced b****' and others saying she should die and her baby should be 'put in an incinerator'.
He one troll even accused her of abducting Madeleine McCann, Mr Tomlinson said, while her husband Jamie Vardy was also subjected to chants about her during football matches.
Mr Tomlinson said: 'The allegation was false, Mrs Vardy had not leaked information about Mrs Rooney, her friends and family to The Sun newspaper.'
He added that, if information was leaked 'this was not something that was done with Mrs Vardy's knowledge or authority'.
Mr Tomlinson said the affair and subsequent libel case had become the subject of intense press coverage and a source of 'entertainment' in the media, being referred to as 'Wag Wars' and 'Wagatha Christie'.
He added: 'This is far from being an entertaining case, it has been profoundly distressing and disturbing.'
He said Coleen's post on Instagram was liked about 93,000 times while the Twitter post received more than 300,000 likes.
Mr Tomlinson added: '(Rebekah) needs to be able to clear her name through this case, so she can move on from this terrible episode.'
The court heard Rebekah had suffered 'enormous distress and upset' over the allegations.
Mr Tomlinson continued: 'The fact that the parties are each married to well-known footballers has led to this action being trivialised in some media coverage as 'WAG wars'.
'The information alleged to have been leaked was, as Mrs Rooney admitted at the hearing on April 29, 2022, low value gossip.
'Nevertheless, the impact of the post on Mrs Vardy was far from trivial. It has - as was inevitable given Mrs Rooney's public profile and the sensational nature of the allegation made - been republished in the national media, and on social media on many thousands of occasions, to many millions of readers.
'Although the media, as they are entitled to do, have turned this case into an entertainment it is not, from Mrs Vardy's point of view, entertaining.
'It has been, and continues to be, deeply upsetting in circumstances where she was not the person who leaked information about Mrs Rooney. Mrs Vardy needs to clear her name in order to ever be given a chance to move on from this horrendous episode.'
He added that it was 'obvious that Mrs Vardy has suffered, and continues to suffer, enormous distress and upset as a result of its publication'.
'As a result of the post, Mrs Vardy and her family were subjected to abuse and threats. She was jeered and heckled at football matches and was the butt of endless jokes and further accusations,' he said.
Rebekah walks through a crowd of photographers towards the entrance of the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand
Mr Tomlinson claimed Rebekah knew Coleen was 'posting fake stories' to see if they would be leaked to the media.
'She did not directly leak any information from Mrs Rooney's private Instagram account to The Sun, nor did she do so indirectly by 'approving or condoning' anyone else to do so on her behalf,' he said.
He said that the 'candid' WhatsApp messages previously heard in court between Mrs Vardy and her agent Caroline Watt show that while 'from time to time they did discuss 'leaking' information to the press' only one post is mentioned, in circumstances where journalists already knew the information.
Mr Tomlinson continued: 'Furthermore, it is plain from the WhatsApp exchanges