The High Court has found that WhatsApp messages between Rebekah Vardy and her former agent were deleted “deliberately” rather than lost by accident.
It comes as Coleen Rooney, 36, was announced as the winner of the high-profile Wagatha Court case in London on Friday (July 29).
40-year-old Vardy, the wife of former England striker Jamie Vardy, had sued Coleen, the wife of former England ace Wayne Rooney, for libel.
READ MORE: Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney set to face off with rival TV shows about court row
The court determined that the loss of Vardy and Watt’s copies of their original WhatsApp conversation was “deliberate rather than accidental”, adding that the missing data would have supported Rooney’s truth defence.
(Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The WhatsApp messages between Vardy and Ms Watt between 2017 and 2019, when Vardy had been following Coleen Rooney’s private Instagram account, had been deemed highly relevant in determining the claim.
However, the media files, which contained images, videos and voicemails, went missing as well as the original messages.
It was previously claimed the potentially crucial WhatsApp messages held on Vardy’s phone were lost after the device was accidentally dropped off the side of a boat in the North Sea.
However, Mrs Justice Steyn has said that it was “likely” she deliberately dropped the phone and that chances of it being accidental was “slim”.
(Image: Instagram)
It came shortly after a request was made to search the phone, and Vardy’s copy of the same messages was lost during the process of backing them up.
The court found that Vardy and Caroline Watt were party to the disclosure of various posts from Rooney’s private Instagram account, including the marriage, birthday, Halloween, pyjamas, car crash, gender selection, babysitting and flooded basement posts.
They deemed it likely that Ms Watt undertook in the direct act of passing the information, but found Vardy “knew of, condoned and was actively engaged” in the process.
Court documents also revealed additional information from Rooney’s private Instagram account was “likely to have been passed to The Sun by the Claimant and Ms Watt, acting together”.
(Image: Getty Images)
While Rooney succeeded in proving that her statement was substantially true, it was determined that it was not in the public interest, as Vardy had no opportunity to respond.
The court battle took place at the Royal Courts of Justice between May 10 and May 19, but both Coleen and Rebekah missed their final day in court.
Rooney jetted out to Dubai on holiday with her former footballer husband and their four children.
Both Coleen and Rebekah missed the final day in court, with Coleen jetting out to Dubai on holiday with husband Wayne Rooney and their four children instead of attending.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
