Rebekah Vardy – live: Coleen Rooney’s triumphant messages to friends after ‘Wagatha Christie’ reveal post
It comes after Wayne Rooney told court he was asked to speak to Jamie Vardy to ‘calm down’ wife
Coleen Rooney posted triumphant messages to her friends after she accused Rebekah Vardy’s account of being behind leaks of her personal information to The Sun, new photos show.
In previously unseen images, Coleen Rooney told her Instagram followers “Don’t play games with a girl who can play better” after she posted her infamous ‘Wagatha Christie’ message on 19 October 2019.
She added: “After years of my personal Instagram posts getting leaked to the SUN newspaper..... I’ve finally cracked it and know exactly who’s account it is !!!!.”
Ms Rooney, 36, is being sued for defamation by Ms Vardy, 40, over the offending post. The images of Coleen Rooney’s Instagram posts were submitted as evidence to the High Court during Ms Vardy’s libel trial.
On the last day of the trial yesterday, Ms Rooney’s lawyer accused Ms Vardy of carrying out a “cover up” to hide “incriminating evidence” ahead of the trial.
Ms Vardy’s lawyer accused Ms Rooney’s side of furthering “conspiracy theories” about the model allegedly deleting key message exchanges between herself and her agent Caroline Watt.
Mr Hugh Tomlinson said the footballer’s wife “accepts” her agent could have been the source of leaks to the press.
Ms Justice Steyn has now retired to consider her judgement in the case.
Wagatha Christie: Top moments in the Rebekah Vardy vs Coleen Rooney trial- Wagatha Christie: Cast of characters in the Rebekah Vardy vs Coleen Rooney trial
Wagatha Christie timeline: How the Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy row unfolded
Wagatha Christie: The most important evidence in the Rebekah Vardy vs Coleen Rooney libel trial
‘I would suggest that this is a manual deletion’, expert on Ms Vardy’s messages
Defence witness Mr Matthew Blackband has queried Ms Vardy’s account that her computer crashed when she tried to upload her Whatsapp chats with her agent and that’s why she lost key messages.
“I’m putting to you that that’s possible,” Ms Vardy lawyer said.
“I cannot see how that is possible,” Mr Blackband replied.
“Based on the information that has been provided I would suggest that this is a manual deletion,” he said.
Referring to the alleged computer crash, Mr Blackband told the court: “I cannot see how that would be an explanation as the download the data has already occurred, a zip file has been formed.”
“I’ve not been able to identify a process that would cause that to happen.
“There would have to be a corruption of the database, which would mean that Whatsapp would not work,” he continued.
Pictured: The Vardys leave court early
Rebekah Vardy and her husband Jamie have left her High Court libel trial early. Ms Vardy’s lawyer told the court that Ms Vardy wasn’t “feeling very well”.
An expert instructed by Rebekah Vardy found it “surprising” that there was an “absence” of WhatsApp messages between her and agent Caroline Watt after Ms Vardy tried to export messages from her device to her solicitors, the High Court was told.
Ian Henderson was asked a series of questions in court by Coleen Rooney’s barrister David Sherborne about Ms Vardy’s data, which the lawyer suggested had been “deleted” or “lost”.
Mr Sherborne put it to the expert that he described the “absence of this data being caused by the uploading process” as “somewhat surprising”, with Mr Henderson agreeing that he remembered saying that.
“Clearly by surprised you’re saying that that is not what you would expect to have happened?” Mr Sherborne added.
“That is correct,” Mr Henderson replied.
The Vardys leave early because ‘Mrs Vardy isn’t feeling very well'
One of Ms Vardy’s legal team has told the court that Rebekah Vardy and her husband Jamie have left early because “Mrs Vardy isn’t feeling very well”.
Expert witness Ian Henderson is now giving evidence for Rebekah Vardy.
Ms Rooney’s lawyer David Sherborne asked Mr Henderson whether it was likely that Ms Vardy’s account had been “compromised” for a period of time.
Mr Henderson said: “I’m aware that at least one other person had access to Ms Vardy’s account”, but said that he could not conclude that Ms Vardy’s account was compromised.
Recap: Coleen has become ‘a different mother, a different wife’ because of trial, Wayne Rooney says
Wayne Rooney has said that his wife Coleen has “become a different mother, a different wife” because of the stress of the ‘Wagatha Christie’ libel trial.
Speaking from the witness stand at the High Court on Tuesday, the former England captain and Derby County manager said they he and his wife “don’t want to be in this court”.
“I’ve watched my wife over the last two and a half years really struggle with everything ... becoming a different mother, a different wife,” he said.
“It’s been been very traumatic for my wife.”
Read the full story here:
Coleen is ‘a different mother, a different wife’ because of trial, Wayne Rooney says
Ms Adaarewa has said she recalled Splash news photographer saying that Ms Vardy knew that her Instagram account was being used to leak stories to the press.
In her written statement, Ms Adaarewa said: “I specially recall Danny saying that Mrs Vardy was not only aware that Danny has a means of access to her account but also that she was well aware that access had been and was being used to take content and pass it to the press.”
She continued: “This much was abundantly clear to me from listening to the exchange, though there was no express discussion of Mrs Vardy personally benefitting from a financial perspective and it would therefore be speculative for me to suggest so.”
Splash news photographer said Ms Vardy knew all about leaks to the press, PR exec says
Penelope Adaarewa, a PR executive, is being asked about a meeting she attended with a photographer called Danny Hayward, director of Splash News, and a mystery Mr Y - a figure in the media industry.
During the meeting Ms Adaarewa overheard a phone call, which was on speaker phone, between Mr Y and Mr Hayward. She was included in the phone call, and was introduced to Mr Hayward by Mr Y, but said that the pair started having what seemed to her was a private conversation in front of her.
In her written witness statement, Ms Adaarewa said: “I specifically recall Danny saying that others knew he had a means of access to the account and it seemed clear to me that included Becky Vardy. In his discussion with Y about the fallout from Mrs Rooney’s recent revelations.
“I recall he used the words to the effect of “But she is sticking to her story that she knew nothing about it” which he said clearly believing that Mrs Vardy did in fact know all about the passing on of information from her Instagram account and that her denial was disingenuous.”
The defence calls their last witness, Penelope Adaarewa
Penelope Adaarewa, a PR executive, is being asked about a meeting she attended after the “media storm” that resulted from Coleen Rooney’s ‘Wagatha Christie’ post.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments