Rebekah Vardy’s husband Jamie will have devices searched as Coleen Rooney WINS latest round of Wagatha Christie row
JAMIE Vardy will have to hand over his devices to be searched after Coleen Rooney today won the latest round of the Wagatha Christie row.
The warring wags are embroiled in a lengthy libel case after Coleen, 35, accused Rebekah, 39, of leaking stories to the press.
Lawyers for the pair are currently going face-to-face today in the latest showdown at the High Court.
Coleen's team launched a blistering attack over disclosure of evidence and accused her of "double standards".
Lawyer John Samson argued Rebekah has requested data from Coleen's devices, which would also extend to her representatives, agents, friends and family.
But he accused her of limiting the the evidence she was willing to make available and demanded Rebekah give Coleen's team access to all devices and accounts.
This also includes data from hubby Jamie, 34, and his social media manager who had access to her Instagram.
In a victory for Coleen's team, Master Eastman ruled their devices should be searched for relevant evidence as the Leicester City striker was dragged into the row.
He added: "In order for the experts to explore what has gone on by whom, when and where they need to have access to more than just the personal devices of Mrs Vardy and Mrs Rooney.
"For the purposes of instructing the experts I am satisfied their devices are up for grabs for inspection."
SPIRALLING COSTS
The court also heard how Rebekah's legal team have already spent £14,000 on "expert analysis of her Instagram data".
Mr Samson said as a result, they would have to assume "relevant documents that are damaging to the claimant's case have been located".
He added: "A secrecy filter is now being applied to documents."
Sara Mansoori, representing Rebekah, said there were "no double standards" and insisted they just need to "see what is relevant for the issues and what isn't".
The lawyers are currently dealing with a timetable of the case and any disputes over the parties' legal costs today.
Spiralling legal fees have previously been branded “grotesque” by Coleen given the current climate.
The court heard today Rebekah's overall proposed budget is £837,735, while Coleen's is £537,029.
Of this, Rebekah is planning to spend £450,000 on solicitors and £388,000 on barristers.
Coleen by comparison is spending £388,000 on solicitors and £306,000 on barristers
WARRING WAGS
But the escalating costs are likely to have dropped after Rebekah won a bid to scrap parts of Coleen's defence.
The decision to rule in her favour is likely to shorten the libel trial to five days - saving her £200,000 in costs.
The mum-of-five had fought to get a "list of issues" in Coleen's defence thrown out on the grounds they are irrelevant or "wrong".
And the High Court made the judgement to strike out parts of Coleen's 50-page defence after they were ruled to be irrelevant or too weak to succeed at trial.
But the judge ruled against Rebekah's plea for a summary judgement on one of the three stories Coleen planted in an Instagram post regarding her "TV plans".
'WASTE OF TIME'
In her judgment, Mrs Justice Steyn dismissed a claim by Coleen that Rebekah showed "publicity seeking behaviour" when she sat behind her during an England game at Euro 2016.
She also said the argument was irrelevant, adding "it would be a waste of time and resources" for the claim to continue.
Other sections of Coleen's defence were removed because they were "of such limited and peripheral relevance".
Coleen turned detective in October 2019 and accused Rebekah of sharing stories from her personal Instagram account.
In the infamous post, Coleen said she posted a string of false stories via her Instagram account with restricted access to see if they appeared in the media, which they did.
She then said the fake stories had only been viewed by one person, and ended dramatically: “It’s . . . Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
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Jamie Vardy's wife Rebekah, who was heavily pregnant at the time, denied the allegations and claimed several people had access to her account.
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The court heard previously how Coleen's investigation was so top secret even hubby Wayne didn't know about it.
The latest bout comes after Coleen was pictured on a family holiday after Wayne's party girl shame last week.
