Rebekah Vardy ’s Wagatha Christie loss is an “absolute disaster” for the WAG and will be “very damaging for her reputation”, a legal expert has claimed.
Media lawyer Jonathan Coad says the “tragic” loss for Vardy will really affect her after being “effectively branded a liar” in court.
The verdict in the Wagatha Christie trial was heard today bringing an end to the almost three-year long battle between Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy.
Speaking outside the High Court, Mr Coad told the BBC : “It is an absolute disaster for Rebekah Vardy.
“And what makes it even more tragic is four times Coleen Rooney tried to settle this case.
“The judge told her that the case should be settled but she has carried on and suffered terrible brand damage during the course of the cross examination by David Sherborne which I think was what has won it.
“And she has lost, so financially she will have to pay all her costs and 70 per cent of Coleen's costs which is well over two million quid.
“But more damaging is that she has been effectively branded a liar by the judgement.
“She denied it in the witness box, she denied it under oath and the judge found that she had done it so it is very damaging for her reputation.”
Mrs Justice Steyn wrote: "The Court found that the Claimant, together with Ms Watt, was party to the disclosure to The Sun of the Marriage, Birthday, Halloween, Pyjamas, Car Crash, Gender Selection, Babysitting and Flooded Basement Posts.
"The Court considered it likely that Ms Watt undertook the direct act, in relation to each post, of passing the information to a journalist at The Sun, but found that the Claimant knew of, condoned and was actively engaged in this process."
The trial was centred around the now famous post, which Coleen shared on her social media to accuse Jamie Vardy's wife's Instagram account of leaking stories from her private Instagram account to the tabloids.
In a statement shared by Coleen, she claimed she had "blocked everyone from viewing" her Instagram stories except "ONE account" on her private profile.
She explained that after posting "a series of false stories", in an investigation dubbed Wagatha Christie, she discovered which account the leak had come from.
Coleen then ended the statement with: "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 has always vehemently denied Coleen 's claims, which were made public while she was pregnant with her youngest daughter Olivia.
Following the claims, Rebekah decided to sue Coleen for libel in a battle which was played out in High Court in London over a week in May.
The long-running saga between the two WAGs was finally put to bed this afternoon as Mrs Justice Steyn ruled in Coleen's favour.
