Rebekah Vardy cried in the witness box while giving evidence in the so-called Wagatha Christie trial on Wednesday as she recalled rape threats targeting her daughter.
The mother-of-five broke down as Coleen Rooney’s lawyer David Sherborne mentioned the trolling and online abuse she and her family had faced, following Mrs Rooney’s claims she leaked stories about the fellow footballer’s wife.
Sherborne referenced online rape threats against Vardy’s daughter, which prompted the footballer’s wife to start crying and wipe away tears from her eyes.
She grabbed a number of tissues and started dabbing at her face but insisted she didn’t need to take a break from her cross-examination during the libel trial between the former friends.
“I’m not going to take you through the trolling,” David Sherborne said.
Asked again a few moments later if she would like a break, Mrs Vardy replied: “I don’t think it’s going to make any difference, to be honest.”
Vardy brought the libel case against Mrs Rooney after she publicly accused her of leaking stories about her private life to tabloid newspaper journalists, following as elaborate “sting” operation conduced by Rooney. Mrs Vardy denies being responsible for any such leak.
The case has since received a huge amount of publicity, with Rooney dubbed ‘Wagatha Christie’, in reference to the crime novellist and her status as a WAG (footballers’ Wives And Girlfriends).
Mrs Vardy’s tears came as she rejected the suggestion she has built a relationship with The Sun with numerous exclusives.
Sherborne put to her that she had been “consistently” giving stories to the paper.
He said: “This is the relationship you are building up with The Sun. You are consistently providing stories.”
Mrs Vardy replied: “I’m working with The Sun because they are going to print the story. They are going to give me the opportunity to give my story.”
She continued: “I would have done it with the Mirror, I would have done it with the Daily Mail, had I had the opportunity.”
Mrs Vardy stood by remarks in her witness statement that she “actively avoided” forming relationships with journalists after being shown Instagram messages which revealed she planned to meet with The Sun reporter Hannah Hope for lunch and set her up on a date.
The trial continues.
