Coleen and Wayne Rooney have arrived at the High Court for another clash with Rebekah Vardy as the Wagatha Christie libel trial enters its fourth day.
A smiling Coleen – dressed all in white and wearing a striking gold watch – stepped out of a black taxi alongside her husband, who wore a navy jacket over a suit with a leather handbag containing a file in one hand.
The mother-of-five wiped away tears as she was accused of leaking private information about Coleen, attempting to destroy incriminating evidence and pinning the blame on her agent and friend Caroline Watt.
Coleen’s lawyer David Sherborne claimed Rebekah had betrayed Mrs Watt by ‘throwing her under the bus’. Rebekah sobbed: ‘She’s been driven to suicidal thoughts by these proceedings and the antics of the defendant [Coleen].’
The footballer’s wife was led from the court in tears twice during the hearing and at the end of the day as she struggled during cross-examination by Mr Sherborne.
She has told how she received a ‘torrent of insults’ and death threats within moments of Coleen’s social media post in 2019. She was seven months pregnant and feared she could lose her unborn baby.
Rebekah is suing Coleen – wife of former England striker Wayne Rooney – for libel over the post, which led to her being dubbed ‘Wagatha Christie’.
She accused Coleen of deliberately provoking the furore, saying: ‘She knows exactly how aggressive and nasty the social media community can be… She should have used her influence and reach to call the trolls off. She didn’t.’
In a series of tense exchanges with Mr Sherborne, Rebekah was repeatedly accused of leaking information from Coleen’s private Instagram account to The Sun and of lying in her evidence to the court.
The mother-of-five wiped away tears as she was accused of leaking private information about Coleen, attempting to destroy incriminating evidence and pinning the blame on her agent and friend Caroline Watt.
Coleen’s lawyer David Sherborne claimed Rebekah had betrayed Mrs Watt by ‘throwing her under the bus’. Rebekah sobbed: ‘She’s been driven to suicidal thoughts by these proceedings and the antics of the defendant [Coleen].’
The footballer’s wife was led from the court in tears twice during the hearing and at the end of the day as she struggled during cross-examination by Mr Sherborne.
She has told how she received a ‘torrent of insults’ and death threats within moments of Coleen’s social media post in 2019. She was seven months pregnant and feared she could lose her unborn baby.
Rebekah is suing Coleen – wife of former England striker Wayne Rooney – for libel over the post, which led to her being dubbed ‘Wagatha Christie’.
She accused Coleen of deliberately provoking the furore, saying: ‘She knows exactly how aggressive and nasty the social media community can be… She should have used her influence and reach to call the trolls off. She didn’t.’
In a series of tense exchanges with Mr Sherborne, Rebekah was repeatedly accused of leaking information from Coleen’s private Instagram account to The Sun and of lying in her evidence to the court.
Mrs Vardy repeatedly denied she had deliberately deleted potentially incriminating evidence and disposed of her laptop.
She said she believed the messages would have been ‘extremely helpful’ to proving her case.
Earlier, Mr Sherborne accused her of ‘selective amnesia’ over her recollection of events. She denied she had orchestrated a tip-off to paparazzi over a photo of her with other England Wags – wives and girlfriends – during the World Cup in Russia in 2018. She and Mrs Watt exchanged messages in which they appeared to plan the photo, but Mrs Vardy said it was only intended to be a picture of her.
The photo led to complaints from Wags and at least one player as English football bosses wanted media coverage focused on the team and the tournament rather than the wives and girlfriends. In a message to Mrs Watt, Mrs Vardy said: ‘England will do their nut.’ Asked about an article about the Wags at the World Cup, Mrs Vardy said: ‘If I’m honest, I can’t remember that at all.’ Mr Sherborne replied: ‘Well, I would much rather you were honest because you are in a witness box under oath.’
The court also heard a message she sent to Mrs Rooney in which she suggested that her phone could have been hacked. She denied it was an attempt to divert suspicion away from her. In an uncomfortable exchange, she was also asked about an article which claimed the Rooneys’ marriage was over – while Mrs Rooney and Wayne sat feet away from her.
Mrs Rooney, 36, is expected to start her evidence in the £3million libel trial today. She took copious notes throughout former friend Mrs Vardy’s evidence and has reportedly signed a contract with Netflix to make a documentary about the trial. The case continues.