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WAGATHA WAR RAGES
Rebekah Vardy ‘won’t give up without a fight’ after losing bid to have Coleen Rooney’s £1.6m bill court costs slashed
Becky's lawyer Jamie Carpenter KC also accused Coleen's team of adopting a 'kitchen sink approach'
BECKY Vardy’s lawyer will tomorrow appeal the Wagatha Christie judge’s ruling over her conduct.
The bombshell case has landed back in court this week amid an ongoing battle over costs.
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But Rebekah's pals have warned: “This is a major part of the hearing and Becky isn’t giving this up without a fight.”
Senior Costs Judge Andrew Gordon-Saker ruled that Becky’s Wagatha Christie bills would not be slashed.
It comes after her team argued that Coleen Rooney’s team had “deliberately deceiving” the court by underestimating costs and time spent working on the case.
Judge Gordon-Saker said he found “on balance and, I have to say, only just”, that team Coleen had not committed wrongdoing.
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As a result, it would therefore not be “appropriate” to reduce the amount of money Becky should pay - meaning she could still be landed with a £1.6million bill.
A friend of Becky’s told The Sun: “She is going in swinging and her lawyer will be appealing the conduct ruling.
“Becky has come this far and will keep fighting.”
Judge Gordon-Saker also said that while there was a “failure to be transparent”, it was not “sufficiently unreasonable or improper” to constitute misconduct.
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Becky's lawyer Jamie Carpenter KC also accused Coleen's team of adopting a "kitchen sink approach" when calculating the total.
He claimed the bill included costs for one of Coleen's team to stay at the five star Nobu Hotel.
Mr Carpenter argued Rebekah should not be forced to pay around £117,500 plus VAT for “expert fees” invoiced after the budget was agreed in August 2021.
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He said the incurred costs should be reduced to £367,732.
But Robin Dunne, for Coleen, argued it was “frankly outrageous” to accuse them of dishonesty.
He also said Rebekah had shown “deplorable conduct” in the case and costs could have been lower if “she conducted this litigation appropriately”.
The lawyer added: “This was a libel claim which Mrs Vardy chose to launch, despite knowing that the Instagram post was true.
“Mrs Vardy refused to engage with Mrs Rooney to try and avoid these proceedings and by her conduct meant that significant additional costs were required to be incurred by Mrs Rooney.
“It sits ill in Mrs Vardy’s mouth to now claim that Mrs Rooney’s costs, a great deal of which were caused directly by her conduct, are unreasonable.”
The row erupted back in October 2019 when Coleen 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.”
Becky, the wife of Leicester City star Jamie Vardy, brought the multi-million pound case to court after she was accused of leaking stories to the press.
In return, Rebekah declared war and accused Coleen of destroying her reputation as she brought the libel case to court.
But her reputation and finances were left hanging in tatters after she was savaged by Mrs Justice Steyn in her ruling.
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But Coleen - spouse of ex-England ace Wayne - won the epic libel battle in 2022 - bringing an end to the three-year saga.
The hearing will continue tomorrow.
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