File photos of Coleen Rooney (left) who has accused Rebekah Vardy (right) of selling stories from her private Instagram account to the Sun (Martin Rickett/Adam Davy/PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)Coleen Rooney has been ordered to delete almost a third of her witness statement ahead of the ‘Wagatha Christie’ libel battle with Rebekah Vardy at the High Court next month.
The two footballers’ wives are set to face off in court over the “sting operation” carried out by Rooney when she suspected that a friend was leaking stories about her to The Sun newspaper.
Rooney earned the nickname ‘Wagatha Christie’ after she revealed the results of her homemade investigation, concluding a social media post with the words: “It’s ……….Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
After the latest legal skirmish ahead of the libel trial starting on May 9, Mrs Justice Steyn granted Rooney’s request for disclosure of messages between Sun journalist Andy Halls and Vardy or her friend and agent Caroline Watt.
In a ruling on her decision released on Thursday morning the judge ordered Rooney to redraft her 300-paragraph witness statement, with 93 paragraphs either partially or completely removed.
Vardy’s legal team complained that parts of the statement were “irrelevant”, repeated evidence which is already included in the trial bundle, and contained “commentary or submissions” rather than direct evidence from Rooney.
They also objected to “hearsay” evidence being introduced, as well as parts of the case which have already been ruled out at preliminary hearings.
Rooney’s legal team accused the other side of “nitpicking” and argued a redraft of the statement would add extra cost to the already-expensive court battle.
The judge said she had taken a “generous” approach to what evidence might be relevant, refusing to block some parts of Rooney’s evidence including one on Vardy’s alleged “spat” with Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding at the 2018 National Television Awards.
But she ruled out Rooney’s “commentary” on WhatsApp messages between Vardy and Ms Watt, speculation about further leaks involving other people, and evidence on an argument between Vardy and another WAG Danielle Lloyd.
In one of the paragraphs to be deleted, Rooney had written: “It is clear to me from their exchanges that Becky was also actively participating in leaking private information about other individuals to The Sun.
“My suspicion that Becky engaged in this sort of conduct was one of the factors which led me to believe she was the source in October 2019 when I uploaded my post on social media and was what I was trying to say to everyone.”
The judge refused to order Vardy to redraft her witness statement, saying Rooney’s objections to her evidence did amount to “nitpicking”.
The case centres around the belief by Rooney, wife of former England star Wayne Rooney, that Vardy was regularly leaking stories to The Sun newspaper.
She posted a series of fake stories on Instagram in order to flush out the mole before posting the results of her investigation on social media, and claims either Vardy - or Ms Watt acting on her behalf - was responsible.
Vardy, the wife of Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, denies being the source of the news stories and is suing for libel.
The court heard last week that Ms Watt is now “in a fragile state” and too unwell to give evidence in the trial, and she has now withdrawn her witness statement and a confidential source protection waiver.
David Sherborne, for Rooney, argued Ms Watt is a “key witness” and told the hearing they believe her “concern about giving evidence is because of the realisation that her evidence is untrue and therefore she is scared of being tested upon it.”
Rooney’s team had sought disclosure of messages between Rooney, Ms Watt, and nine named journalists at The Sun including editor Victoria Newton and former executive editor Dan Wootton.
Vardy’s team branded it a “fishing expedition”, and the judge only allowed Rooney to seek contact with Mr Halls, the author of the stories at the centre of the case.
