WAG WAR
Rebekah Vardy stares down Coleen Rooney & says ‘I didn’t leak anything to anyone’ in explosive High Court showdown
REBEKAH Vardy stared down Coleen Rooney today as she told the High Court: "I didn't leak anything to anyone".
Becky repeatedly denied leaking information to newspapers in the first few minutes of her cross-examination by Mrs Rooney's barrister.
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During the pair's explosive showdown, shortly before 4pm, Becky took to the witness stand and said: "I didn't give any information to a newspaper."
She added: "I didn't leak anything to anyone. I respect other people's privacy. I didn't do it."
Coleen stared at her nemesis but Wayne could not look at her.
David Sherborne said: "You wouldn't want to be called a leaker, would you?"
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Mrs Vardy replied: "I have been called a leaker and it's not nice."
The barrister later asked if Rebekah respected people's privacy, to which she replied: "Yes, I do."
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Earlier today, court documents revealed Rebekah branded Wayne Rooney a "c***" and said Coleen should "get over herself" in a slew of foul-mouthed texts.
As the trial between the WAGs kicked off, Rebekah's messages were released from when she learned she'd been accused by "Wagatha" Coleen.
She told one pal on WhatsApp: "She thinks it's me that's been doing stories on her! Of all the people on her Instagram ffs!"
She then told the same friend: "That c*** needs to get over herself" and added: "What a joke!
"All I've ever been is nice to her though! Even when Wayne was being a c***."
Rebekah's lawyer blasted Coleen's "flawed" investigation after the WAG accused the mum-of-five of leaking "false stories" about her private life to the media.
'STING OPERATION'
It was heard that Rebekah, who was seven months pregnant when she was accused, had suffered vile abuse from trolls who said her baby should be "put in an incinerator".
The court case comes after Wayne's wife claimed to have carried out a month-long "sting operation" before publicly pointing the finger at Rebekah in a bombshell social media post.
Coleen alleges that three fake stories were shared, including that she travelled to Mexico for a "gender selection" procedure.
She blasted: "I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them.
"It's .......... Rebekah Vardy's account."
Rebekah, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, denies the accusations and is now suing for libel.
Under English defamation law, the burden of proof now will be on Coleen to prove that her post was "substantially true".
Hugh Tomlinson, representing Rebekah, told the court this morning she had brought the libel action against Coleen to "vindicate her reputation".
He described Coleen's claim as "false" and said that, as a result of the allegation, Rebekah had been subjected to online abuse by vile social media users who labelled her a "rat-faced b***h".
"Mrs Vardy needs to clear her name in order to ever be given a chance to move on from this horrendous episode," he said.
FOUL-MOUTHED TEXTS
"Mrs Rooney accepts that her post is defamatory of Mrs Vardy. Remarkably, she continues to deny that the post caused 'serious harm' to Mrs Vardy’s reputation.
"But there can be no serious doubt about this: it is obvious that the post caused such harm. It is also obvious that Mrs Vardy has suffered, and continues to suffer, enormous distress and upset as a result of its publication."
He said Rebekah "does not know who was providing information from Mrs Rooney’s private Instagram posts", and claimed she "had no choice" but to sue after repeatedly trying to settle with Coleen.
"All she knows is that it was not her," he said.
Mr Tomlinson also claimed Coleen had "revelled" in her "Wagatha Christie" nickname, sharing posts which mocked her up as the renowned crime writer Agatha Christie.
The evidence against Rebekah is "flawed", he claimed, adding that Coleen's team are relying on his client's strongly-worded WhatsApp messages.
"What those exchanges show was that Mrs Vardy was sometimes irritated by Mrs Rooney, rightly or wrongly," he added.
"She said rude things about her, she used four-letter words.
'WAGATHA CHRISTIE'
"It's not unknown for people to talk in private conversation in ways that they wouldn't talk about in public."
The case first went to court in November 2020, with a judge finding that Coleen's post "clearly identified" Rebekah as being "guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust".
The judge also said that "the element of suspense introduced by the multiple dots seems to me designed to raise expectations of a dramatic revelation".
Since then, several hearings have taken place to prepare for the trial, including one where texts between Rebekah and agent Caroline Watt emerged.
In one, Rebekah called Coleen a "nasty b***h" and a "c***", it's alleged.
But in February, Coleen's barrister David Sherborne told the High Court that a "series of unfortunate events" have happened over the evidence in the case - including Ms Watt's phone falling into the North Sea.
COURT SHOWDOWN
Rebekah's lawyers have said she has "nothing to hide".
Most recently, the High Court was told by Mr Sherborne that Rebekah "appears to accept" that Ms Watt was the source of leaked stories about Coleen.
Ms Watt had been due to give evidence in the trial, but was recently found to be "not fit" to take part, also withdrawing her written evidence.
Mr Tomlinson said: "We simply don't know what the true position is in relation to Ms Watt... She's not communicating with anybody."
Wayne Rooney will be quizzed, it's understood.
Meanwhile, just last week, it emerged that the Rooneys fear their reputations will be "shredded" as a result of the trial.
There could also be stories about the Derby County manager Coleen doesn't know about, it is claimed.
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One pal called the situation "a slow-motion train crash".
The trial in front of Mrs Justice Steyn is expected to last seven days.
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