Monday 16 May 2022 07:28 PM Coleen Rooney clutches crucifix as she leaves Wagatha Christie trial after day ... trends now

Coleen Rooney clutched a crucifix in her hand as she left court today after condemning her wag rival Rebekah Vardy’s ‘evil’ messages.

The silver cross on a chain was just visible in devout Catholic Coleen’s hand at the end of day 5 of the sensational £3m case.

Coleen, 36, had referred to the toxic string of messages between Rebekah, 40, and her agent Caroline Watt, in which Rebekah branded her (Coleen) a ‘c***’ ‘nasty b****’, and ‘trash’.

‘She says she has zero interest in what's going on in my life, which I believe is totally untrue,’ Coleen replied. ‘She talks about me a lot... so that was a lie,’ she added.

Mrs Rooney discussed the WhatsApp messages the court had heard between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt - in which Coleen featured.

She said she had never met or spoken to Ms Watt, commenting on the agent's exchanges with Rebekah: ‘The messages that went on between them were just evil and uncalled for.’

‘There's no need for it, I've never done anything to them,’ Coleen added.

She later said she had a lot of people contacting her immediately after the post, and Mr Tomlinson said people online were calling her ‘Wagatha Christie’.

She responded: ‘Yeah, which I just think is ridiculous.

‘I got a lot of people sending me pictures, screenshots and obviously people didn't realise how serious what was behind it was.

‘I felt it was hard and people I trusted and people I had let into my circle were going against me.’

She added: ‘I have never spoke about this until this case, so I haven't dwelt on it, to be honest with you I have hated every minute of it.’

‘The words they used were not true, I’ve never done anything for them to monitor me and stalk me.’

Earlier today Rooney revealed how she ramped up her 'Wagatha Christie' investigation when her husband Wayne was 'misbehaving' with a blonde barmaid during a ten-hour bender with teammates in Florida.

Coleen also admitted keeping her probe secret from the former England captain - as well as lying to Rebekah Vardy after being asked why she had unfollowed her on Instagram, as the women's £3million libel trial continued.

London's High Court heard the sting gathered momentum at a time when Rooney was 'misbehaving.' Asked if that was the case by Rebekah's barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC, Coleen replied: 'There's been a few unfortunate things that have happened and they have been publicised. It's happened quite a few times and I've dealt with it. We've dealt with it as a couple, as a family. There are a few things that have been publicised over a few years.'

Speaking of Rebekah's response to her 'troubles', Coleen said: 'I did feel that when there's tough times going on, I felt Mrs Vardy would message more. I felt It's when there are things in the news, she would message me and say How are you?'. I felt like it was fishing for information.'

The court heard one occasion when Rebekah went 'fishing for information' happened hours after her husband allegedly 'spent time' with the barmaid in Florida. Coleen told how Rebekah got in contact after The Sun told how she was threatening to quit the US and return to Britain after Rooney's encounter with Vicki Rosiek when he was playing for DC United in Washington.

Making contact with Coleen at lunchtime on February 11 2019, the day after the article appeared, Rebekah wrote: 'Hi my love! Hope you are ok! Just saw another s***ty story online! Can they not just leave you guys alone...I don't know how you do it! It's relentless...stay strong. Sending hugs.

Coleen replied: 'Thanks, just a pain in a**e...it's the kids half term so just gonna come home.' Messaging Coleen back, Rebekah wrote: 'It's a joke! Annoys me someone close to you is clearly selling you out! And for what...I don't blame you come home and be with your family'.

Over a two-month period, Coleen posted up to 50 stories on her account, up to five or six a day, that were only visible to Rebekah's account, the court heard. Mr Tomlinson said: 'This was really a serious and concerted operation wasn't it Mrs Rooney.' Coleen replied, saying: 'It was important but I felt like it's been made out in the public a lot more important than it actually is.'

Asked by Mr Tomlinson why she had not told Rooney about her investigation, Coleen replied: 'One thing I don't do is put any troubles or worries on anyone else. I don't like to put pressure on anyone until I need to.

'That's what I've always done. I wanted to do it for myself without telling anyone. There's trust and there's trust. It was quite hard keeping it to myself but I had to do it if I wanted to find out who was doing it to me.'

Also today, Coleen admitted lying to Rebekah after being asked why she had unfollowed her on Instagram. During cross-examination about her actions, 36-year-old Coleen also told Mr Tomlinson at the trial today: 'Yes I did lie, it was a cover-up for what I was investigating, I had my suspicions.'

The trial comes after a widely-shared social media post in October 2019, in which Coleen said she had carried out a 'sting operation' and accused 40-year-old Rebekah of leaking 'false stories' about her private life to the press.

Rebekah, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, denies leaking stories to the media and is suing her fellow footballer's wife for libel, while Coleen is defending the claim on the basis her post was 'substantially true'.

It follows some of the most memorable parts of the trial last week, including:

Rebekah speaking of her regret over a kiss-and-tell interview in which she revealed intimate details of a sexual encounter with singer Peter Andre, which resulted in an article headlined: 'Peter's hung like a small chipolata';  Claims over a celebrity spat breaking out after Rebekah was allegedly caught taking pictures of the contents of the late Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding's handbag at the National Television Awards in 2018; Rebekah admitting she didn't know who Davy Jones was when the court was reminded that her agent Caroline Watt had said in an earlier hearing that her phone had fallen into the North Sea

As the toxic feud between Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy spilled out in public for a second week, here is a summary of the evidence as it was heard in court:

COLEEN'S TESTIMONY  Rebekah 'got into a spat with Sarah Harding at National Television Awards after she was caught going through the Girls Aloud singer's handbag'

Rebekah got into a heated argument with Sarah Harding at the 2018 National Television Awards after the Girls Aloud singer spotted her rifling through her handbag, the High Court heard last week.

The story - which was published in several tabloid newspapers at the time - was mentioned by Coleen Rooney in written documents she submitted to the High Court as part of the £3million Wagatha Christie libel trial.

Coleen claimed: 'She got in a spat with former Girls Aloud group member Sarah Harding during the 2018 event because Sarah apparently caught Becky taking photographs of the contents of Sarah's handbag when Sarah had dropped it on the floor.

'Their dispute subsequently appeared in The Sun.'

Rebekah is said to have 'come to blows' with Sarah hours after the 2018 NTAs had been broadcast on ITV.

According to an article published at the time in The Mirror, Sarah accused Rebekah of taking 'sneaky pictures' of her, sparking a 'heated' row between the pair that caused a 'huge scene'.

Sources claimed that Sarah had dropped her bag inside the bash, and as she proceeded to pick up her belongings from the floor, she saw a camera flash and I'm A Celebrity star Rebekah standing nearby with her phone in her hand.

It is said the singer saw red and accused mother-of-five Rebekah of taking sly pictures of her while she was scrambling around collecting her things.

The insiders continued that Rebekah, the wife of footballer Jamie Vardy, was left irked by the accusation and insisted that hadn't been the case, offering to show Sarah her phone, before demanding an apology from the Celebrity Big Brother star.

'Rebekah couldn't believe the insinuation and angrily insisted she hadn't even been using her phone,' they claimed.

'A few of their friends had to step in and intervene because they were getting really heated with one another- it caused a huge scene.'

Sarah died on September 5 last year after being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer.    

Wagatha Christie post was a 'last resort'

Coleen has claimed that she made her bombshell social media post in October 2019 about carrying out her so-called 'sting operation' as a 'last resort'.

Mr Tomlinson asked her what she wanted to achieve from the post.

'I wasn't achieving anything,' she said, adding: 'What I wanted was to stop the person who was leaking my private information to The Sun.' She told the court that she had given out warnings 'many times', but 'it didn't stop'.

'I've never been friends with Rebekah': Coleen says she's 'never socially interacted' with rival WAG  

Coleen told the hearing that she had never been friends with Rebekah.

Describing their relationship she said: 'I've never had a drink with Mrs Vardy. We've never socially interacted. We've met on a few occasions at football but we've never interacted socially.

'I've never picked the phone up to Rebekah Vardy. The only time I spoke to her on the phone was the day of the post.'

She said the first contact the pair had ever had was when she and her husband were invited to her wedding to Jamie in May 2016.

She said: 'We couldn't make it. It was a busy time of the year. I sent a gift and Rebekah replied saying ''thank you''.'

She said she was unable to go as it was a 'busy Tim' at the end of the season.

Describing how her investigation began to gain momentum, Coleen said: 'There were a number of things that added up with the others. I didn't just pluck it out of thin air.

'I suspected this person was having a relationship with The Sun so I googled it, looked at past articles and saw the connection between Rebekah Vardy and The Sun.

'This thing was not just thought of overnight. I did think of it for a long time. As I've said I'm not one who just jumps on things.'

She said: 'I was trying to get more information and put it together with the information I already had. I came up with Rebekah Vardy. 

'There was no other person on my private Instagram who was in a position to give this information to The Sun.'

Coleen wanted to catch the account responsible for leaking her information 'red-handed'

In her witness statement, Coleen said she had made two warning posts and temporarily removed Rebekah from her account 'but nothing had worked'.

She continued: 'I wanted to catch the account responsible 'red-handed' as it were and so I came up with a plan.'

Describing her plan, Coleen said: 'I decided that I would invent and fabricate a story, limit accessibility in such a way so that it was only Becky's Instagram account that could view it, upload it to Instagram via Instagram Stories for a period of 24 hours so that it was only 'Seen By' Becky's Instagram account and then I would wait and see whether my fabricated/invented story, which had only been seen by Becky's Instagram account, appeared in The Sun.'

She added: 'For the avoidance of any doubt, I did not mention this plan or the content of the Sting Operation to anyone or discuss it with any person at any time.

'Nobody knew the detail of what was going on apart from me. It killed me not telling anyone about it but I managed it.' 

I'm surprised by how much interest my Wagatha Christie post caused, Coleen tells the High Court

The WAG said she was 'surprised' by 'how much interest' her social media post caused.

'Obviously it was going to get picked up by the media,' she said, explaining that her life had been covered by the media for the last 20 years 'no matter how big or small' something was.

Asked by Hugh Tomlinson QC if she had a 'large loyal following' on social media, Coleen replied: 'I have a large following yes, loyal I'm not too sure about.'

Coleen DENIES making Wagatha Christie post to make Rebekah subject to abuse

Coleen insisted she did not make her 2019 Wagatha Christie post to direct trolls at Rebekah.

It was put to her by Rebekah's barrister Mr Tomlinson at the High Court this afternoon.

She said: 'No that's not my intention at all. I wouldn't ever, it's not in my nature to cause abuse or trolling in any way at all.'

When asked if she would have tried to mitigate any abuse with a post, she replied: 'Maybe I would have liked to have said that but I have never been in a court, I have never been in a legal case before, this is the first time I have gone under instruction of my legal team.'

Coleen 'removed Rebekah from her private Instagram account AFTER her car crash story was leaked'

Coleen described her decision to remove Rebekah from her private Instagram account after a story about her car being damaged was leaked to The Sun.

In her witness statement, she said: 'Going through the Instagram accounts of friends and family one by one and assessing whether or not you thought they were responsible for leaking information about you to The Sun was a horrible exercise.'

She added: 'The leaks were consistent and they were coming from my own private Instagram account, as opposed to just wider information about my life, and therefore there was a relatively limited pool of possible suspects.

'I came to the conclusion that the account responsible clearly had a relationship with The Sun and its journalists because it was only The Sun that was printing the 'exclusive' articles based upon information from my private Instagram account.' 

Coleen blasts 'sickening' message between Rebekah and her agent referencing her dead sister

Coleen said a message between Rebekah and her agent referencing her dead sister 'knocked me sick' when it was disclosed.

Coleen wrote in her witness statement: 'While they were discussing her messaging me in order to cover her tracks, Becky says to Caroline Watt 'maybe I should say something about Rosie'.

'Rosie is a reference to my sister who suffered with Rett Syndrome and passed away in 2013 at the age of just 14.

'The mere fact that Becky would suggest seeking to use Rosie's name in conversation with me in order to put me off the scent of suspecting Becky as the person responsible for leaking my private information to The Sun is really low and sad.

'It actually knocked me sick when I read that message from Becky to Caroline.' 

Rebekah would 'regularly' message Coleen when there was press coverage about the WAG, court hears

Rebekah would 'regularly' message Coleen when there was press coverage about Wayne Rooney's wife, the High Court has heard.

Saying Rebekah was 'not in my circle', Coleen said: 'I felt like when she contacted me it was to try and get information out of me.'

Rebekah's messages to her came 'when something not nice was going on in my personal life', Coleen claimed.

She said Rebekah's messages were 'generally nice', but added that 'towards the end its was a bit unusual'.

'Someone who was not that close to me... constantly checking in with me all the time,' Coleen said.

Coleen 'offered an olive branch' to Rebekah but it was 'in vain' 

Coleen told how she offered 'an olive branch' to Rebekah in a bid to end their bitter public despite in the wake of her 'Wagatha Christie' revelations.

Coleen, 36, said she made three attempts to bring their legal battle to a close as she believed it would 'benefit neither Becky nor myself'.

But she said her efforts had all been 'in vain'.

In a written statement submitted to the court she said: 'I would like to highlight at the outset of this witness statement that I have sought to resolve this matter amicably on various occasions because I was of the view that the time, money, resources and efforts involved could be better spent elsewhere - particularly in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

She told how she made three separate attempts to call a truce, the first in May 2020 before proceedings were issued.

Coleen tried again after filing legal documents in October 2020 then made a further attempt in January 2021.

But she said: 'The efforts I made were in vain.'

She added: 'I have no doubt that this litigation, whatever the outcome, will benefit neither Becky nor myself.

Coleen continued: 'I should, however, highlight that those attempts to compromise this dispute were not made due to any concern with the underlying merits or

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