The verdict in the Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy Wagatha Christie trial is set to be handed down on Friday, July 29 at 12 noon, it has been confirmed.
The long-awaited verdict will be delivered by Mrs Justice Steyn after the high profile trial came to a close in May.
Rebekah, 40, brought the case forward after Coleen, 36, claimed she believed the source of leaked stories about her to the press was Rebekah’s Instagram account.
Jamie Vardy’s wife has always strongly denied the claim, which was made while she was pregnant with her youngest daughter.
Coleen shared her allegation in a public post on social media, in which she claimed she had put a number of fake stories on her private Instagram account and limited which accounts could see them and then waited to see if they appeared in the press – which they did.
(Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The fake stories posted by Coleen included one about a trip to learn about gender selection and a flooded basement.
When Rebekah brought her case forward, the judge ruled that Coleen must prove that Ms Vardy had had a direct hand in the leaking of the information.
Coleen told the High Court: “I believe that Mrs Vardy knew this was happening, whether it was Mrs Vardy herself or it was someone she’s given permission to.”
During the trial, Coleen’s lawyers attempted to prove Rebekah had known and had told her agent Caroline Watt to share information about the leaks with The Sun.
(Image: James Manning/PA Wire)
A series of text message conversations between Rebekah and Caroline were submitted as evidence, with some showing the two discussing getting paid for tipping off The Sun about incidents including car crashes suffered by both Coleen and also Danny Drinkwater.
Evidence also showed a text message from Caroline in which she appeared to admit she had leaked information to the press about Coleen, after Coleen had complained about some leaks from her private account.
Caroline said in a text to Rebekah: “It wasn’t someone she trusted. It was me :).”
(Image: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Vardy’s lawyer Hugh Tomlinson QC argued that Mrs Rooney had “failed to produce any evidence” that Vardy had “regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower” of her private Instagram.
He said the trial was a “very simple case” when “conspiracy theories” were removed.
Mr Tomlinson added: “Mrs Vardy’s case is and always has been that she did not leak the information nor did she authorise anyone else to leak.
“She does not know to this day what happened.”
He went on: “She does not know where this information came from.”
He added that Vardy had suffered “very serious harm to her reputation” because of Rooney’s viral social media post.
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
