Rebekah Vardy ‘encouraged her agent to leak stories on Coleen’, Rooney’s lawyer blasts
COLEEN Rooney has accused Rebekah Vardy of "encouraging" her agent to leak stories about her as their Wagatha Christie court showdown rages on.
Lawyers representing Coleen today claimed agent Caroline Watt was the "direct leak" - but insisted Rebekah was "behind" it.
The Wags are locked in a court battle after Coleen, 35, turned detective by posting a string of fake stories on Instagram with restricted access to see if they appeared in the media, which they did.
She claimed the fake stories had been viewed only by Rebekah's Instagram in a dramatic Twitter post - which sensationally ended with: "It's.......... Rebekah Vardy's account".
Rebekah, 39, vehemently denies the claims - and is suing Coleen for libel.
Barrister David Sherborne told the hearing yesterday: "She had the means to leak the stories because she had access to Mrs Rooney’s private Instagram account and encouraged Ms Watt to [share them].
"Mrs Vardy knew perfectly well what she [Ms Watt] was doing and was behind it and encouraging it."
Explosive texts between Rebekah and Ms Watt shown to the court yesterday saw the pair discuss a post on Coleen's private Instagram where her car had been damaged.
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Rebekah told Ms Watt she "would love to leak those stories x".
Days after one story was published, Coleen posted a tweet saying it was "sad" someone who followed her was ";betraying" her.
According to written submissions, while discussing the tweet in a private WhatsApp conversation, Ms Watt told Rebekah: "It wasn't someone she trusted.
"It was me." The message was accompanied by a laughing emoji.
Mr Sherborne said in written arguments that this "conspicuously elicits neither surprise, contradiction or criticism from Mrs Vardy, who was plainly aware and approved of this leak".
Speaking at London's High Court today, the barrister said: "We allege that Ms Watt was the direct leak - the person who actively sought out the private information, checked whether it had already been in the public domain and leaked it."
WAGS AT WAR
He added: "It’s clear the WhatsApp disclosure has allowed us to establish that she was the actual discloser and processor [of the information]."
Coleen claims that Ms Watt sold stories about her on Becky’s orders.
Ms Watt’s lawyers do not want her to become a party to the libel action, and have offered an "undertaking" that she will not leak any private information in future.
But Mr Sherborne said: "This undertaking is heavily undermined by the refusal to admit she did it in the first place.
"Miss Watt also says the information she is accused of leaking was in the public domain and therefore not private anyway.
Yesterday, the High Court heard Rebekah Vardy brand Coleen Rooney a "c*** who needs to get over herself" for accusing her of leaking stories.
In a series of messages, Rebekah also branded her former friend a "nasty b****" and "such a d***" in the long running feud that dates back to 2019.
Rebekah's lawyer Hugh Tomlinson QC yesterday revealed a series of WhatsApp messages sent at the time which he said "demonstrate beyond doubt that she was not responsible for leaking private information".
He said: "Such messages include Ms Vardy’s shocked reaction when she first discovered that Ms Rooney suspected her of leaking stories."
In one of the messages, Rebekah wrote: "Someone on her Instagram regularly sells stories on her. Bet it’s their PR again, has to be."
'STING OPERATION'
In another brutal takedown, she added: "I really can’t see anyone being that a*sed with selling stories on her."
But Mr Sherborne later claimed Rebekah had "animosity" towards Coleen.
He said this showed "clear motivation for Mrs Vardy to leak private information about Mrs Rooney, with repeated bad-mouthing of her in a way which is clearly consistent with and linked to the desire to leak private information about her".
In other WhatsApp messages shown in written submissions, Mrs Vardy refers to Mrs Rooney as a "nasty b****" and "such a d***".
Mr Sherborne also claimed vital messages are missing from the exchange submitted to the court by Rebekah and her agent.
He said they cannot be found because Ms Watt apparently “dropped her phone overboard” during a boat trip last August.
Rebekah's barrister Mr Tomlinson QC said the denied allegations have caused her "huge damage and distress".
It's been reported that fees for the legal battle between former friends Coleen and Rebekah will top £1m.
SHOWDOWN
In 2019 Coleen sensationally accused Rebekah's Instagram account of leaking fake stories she'd purposely posted on her personal account.
She said at the time: "It’s been tough keeping it to myself and not making any comment at all, especially when the stories have been leaked, however I had to.
"Now I know for certain which account/individual it’s come from.
"It’s . . . Rebekah Vardy’s account."
Rebekah, who was heavily pregnant at the time of Coleen's accusations, denied the claims and insisted she had nothing to gain from selling stories to the press.
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She hit back: "As I have just said to you on the phone, I wish you had called me if you thought this. I never speak to anyone about you as various journalists who have asked me over the years can vouch for.
“If you thought this was happening you could have told me & I could have changed my passwords to see if it stopped. Over the years various people have had access to my Insta and just this week I found I was following people I didn’t know and have never followed myself."
