Rebekah Vardy today cried in court again and embraced her solicitor as her jaw-dropping £3million Wagatha Christie libel battle with Coleen Rooney came to an emotional close.
The tearful WAG – who broke into tears a number of times while giving evidence – was seen throwing her hands around solicitor Charlotte Harris following the conclusion of the high-profile legal battle.
The emotional close to the trial – which has gripped the country since last Monday – came after barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC today told the court how Mrs Vardy had suffered ‘public abuse and ridicule’ on a ‘massive scale’ as a result of the Coleen Rooney’s Wagatha Christie post.
Closing the Mrs Vardy’s case on the final day of the high-profile libel battle, Mr Tomlinson told the court how his client had received ‘the most horrific abuse’ – including death threats – following the now-famous ‘it’s Rebekah Vardy’s account…’ reveal.
He also highlighted a number of messages to the high court, including one in which internet trolls had said Ms Vardy’s baby deserved to be ‘put in a microwave and ‘put in an incinerator’.
Describing the impact of the bombshell post by Mrs Rooney on Rebekah, Mr Tomlinson said: ‘There was no urgency whatsoever.
‘Mrs Rooney could have blocked Mrs Vardy and made contact with Mrs Vardy to ask for her views, or she could have waited until after Mrs Vardy had given birth.
‘She did neither and failed to give any proper or reasonable consideration to the possibility that the activity could be happening from Mrs Vardy’s account without Mrs Vardy’s knowledge.
‘The publication of the post to millions of readers was, in the circumstances, wholly unfair to Mrs Vardy who should have been given an opportunity to comment and explain her position in advance. ‘
Mr Tomlinson said as a result Rebekah suffered ‘the most horrific abuse’. Mr Tomlinson said his client was entitled to ‘substantial damages in compensation for this defamatory publication.’
He said Rebekah had been ‘forcefully’ cross-examined by Mr Sherborne and found the experience ‘upsetting’.
‘It’s been a great burden on her for two and a half years and she was cross-examined in an aggressive fashion over a considerable period of time.’
The court heard that allegations that Rebekah Vardy plotted to leak stories were merely cases of ‘gossip’ and ‘tittle tattle’.
He said: ‘This is really a falling-out of two individuals over what is essentially a private matter.
‘The Whodunnit tone which she must have foreseen would have had a big impact, and did have an enormous impact, we do say it was unreasonable for her to do it in the manner in which she did.’
Mr Tomlinson QC said conversations between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt spoke about ‘leaks’ in message exchanges but had been using ‘loose language’.
He said: ‘The position is clearly that from time to time, Mrs Vardy and Miss Watt used the language of leaking. We say that in some cases that’s actually just loose language.
‘In reality, they’re gossiping. That’s a very different scenario than what’s been said against them.’
It comes as Ms Vardy today blamed her publicist for selling stories about Coleen Rooney and admitted she regretted calling Coleen a ‘c**t’ and her husband Wayne a ‘sh*tehouse’ in abusive messages – but insisted her rival’s Wagatha Christie Instagram reveal was ‘misconceived’.
Mrs Vardy’s barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC said that his client is a victim – and now accepts the possibility that her friend and former agent Caroline Watt may have been the source of the leaks, declaring his client: ‘Does not know to this day what happened’ so is entitled to ‘substantial damages’ from Mrs Rooney.
The libel trial has been brought by Mrs Vardy to ‘establish her innocence and vindicate her reputation’ after Mrs Rooney accused her personally leaking false stories to The Sun in October 2019.
As the Wagatha Christie trial came to a head, Rebekah Vardy’s QC said:
- Mrs Vardy ‘obviously made mistakes’ including trusting her publicist Caroline Watt, and has accepted that she may have been ‘the source’ of the leaks;
- Hugh Tomlinson QC claimed that Coleen’s legal team had constructed an ‘incredible’ and ‘wholly implausible’ conspiracy theory in which Rebekah was a ‘wicked litigant’ at the heart of a plot to leak information about her private life to the media;
- He dismissed the suggestion that Rebekah had deleted a handful of ‘incriminating’ messages to save her own skin;
- Mr Tomlinson said Rebekah was ‘subject to lengthy, hostile and aggressive cross examination which she found difficult and stressful at times’, and said she had brought the libel action to ‘clear her name’ after being abused by ‘tens of thousands’ on social media;
- Rebekah’s lawyer defended Jamie Vardy’s decision not to give evidence under oath, claiming WhatsApp messages prove that Wayne Rooney was talking ‘nonsense’ about the Wag’s Euro 2016 media antics;
- He told the High Court that journalists who worked with Rebekah refused to give evidence in her £3million Wagatha Christie libel trial ‘having taken legal advice’ – but insisted this didn’t prove that Rebekah was the source of the leaks;