After three years of costly legal retrials, Judge Karen Stein issued her ruling Friday morning. In her ruling, published online, Ms Justice Steyn ruled it was “likely” that Rebekah Vardy’s then-agent Caroline Watt “undertook the direct act” of leaking stories from Rooney’s private Instagram account to the British tabloid , The Sun. The explosive feud began in 2019 when Rooney sensationally accused Leicester City player Jamie Vardy’s wife Rebecca of leaking stories to the paper. Rebecca, who has vehemently denied the allegations, hit back by slapping Coleen with a defamation suit. Rebecca Vardy is the wife of English footballer Jamie Vardy. REUTERS Rebecca Vardy, wife of Leicester City star Jamie Vardy, is accused of leaking information to the Sun.REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File The evidence “clearly shows, in my view, that Ms Vardy was aware of and condoned this behaviour, actively participating in it by directing Ms Watt to the private Instagram account, sending screenshots of Ms Rooney’s posts, drawing attention to information which may be of interest to the press and in response to additional questions raised by the press through Ms Watt,” Judge Steyn wrote. The legal battle was dubbed the “Wagatha Christie” case, a reference to the famous crime writer, in honor of Rooney’s amateur heist. “Is ………. Rebekah Vardy’s account. Colin Rooney In October 2019, Rooney shared a lengthy post on her Twitter and Instagram accounts, suggesting “for a few years someone I trusted to follow me on my personal Instagram account has been consistently informing The SUN about private posts and my stories”. The TV personality said that “after a long time trying to figure out who it could be, for various reasons,” she had a gut feeling and formulated a plan on how to get rid of this mystery person. Coleen Rooney is seen leaving the High Court with her husband, Wayne, during the ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial in London on May 17, 2022. BACKGROUND The court concluded that Vardy was aware of and condoned details leaked by Caroline Watt’s agent.REUTERS “I blocked everyone from seeing my Instagram stories except for one account,” Rooney said at the time. “Over the last five months I have published a number of bogus stories to see if they got into the Sun newspaper. And you know what, they did!’ Rooney noted that she “saved and screenshotted all original stories that clearly show only one person has seen them,” claiming it was “Rebecca Vardy’s account.” Vardy addressed the allegations on Twitter the same day, tagging Rooney in her post. “As I just told you on the phone, I wish you would have called me if you thought that,” he tweeted in October 2019. “I never talk to anyone about you, as various journalists who have asked me over the years can vouch for. If you thought that was happening, you could have told me and I could have changed my passwords to see if it stopped.” Vardy went on to say that “various people have accessed” her Instagram account over the years, adding: “Just this week I found out I was following people I didn’t know and I’ve never followed myself.” “I’m not funny, but I don’t need the money, what would I earn by selling stories for you?” she wrote “I really liked you Coleen and I’m so upset that you chose to do this, especially when I’m heavily pregnant.” The judge said Rooney had successfully demonstrated that her claim was “substantially true”.Raw Image LTD/MEGA Vardy later filed a defamation claim against Rooney in June 2020, setting the stage for a legal battle estimated to have totaled over $3.7 million in legal fees. The case first appeared in court in November 2020 after a judge said Rooney’s post “clearly identified” Vardy as “guilty of the serious and ongoing breach of trust”.
