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£15▼ Rebekah Vardy. The ‘Wagatha
Christie’ libel trial is scheduled to
begin at the high court on 9 May
PHOTOGRAPH: MICHAEL ZEMANEK/BPI/REXCourt hears Vardy now
believes agent leaked
Rooney stories to Sun
Jim Waterson
Media editor
Rebekah Vardy has suggested her
agent may have leaked stories about
Coleen Rooney to the Sun, the high
court has heard, in a last- minute
change of approach before the
“Wagatha Christie” libel trial.
The pair are locked in an expen-
sive and increasingly messy libel
battle over accusations Vardy passed
information from Rooney’s private
Instagram account to the tabloid.
Until now Vardy has said she
was not responsible for leaking the
material and did not know who did.
With just over a week to go until the
trial, Rooney’s lawyers told the high
court that Vardy ha d realised Caroline
Watt, her agent and close friend, may
have handed over information on
Rooney to Sun journalists.
Rooney’s lawyers said Vardy had
changed her account of events in an
updated witness statement. They
said Vardy believe d it was Watt who
may have “betrayed” her and leaked
information without her knowledge.
The court heard Vardy “did not
authorise or condone” her agent to
leak the stories. The court previously
heard how the pair discussed access-
ing Rooney’s Instagram account and
talked about selling diff erent stories
on the Chelsea footballer Danny
Drinkwater to Sun journalists.
Rooney’s legal team have struggledunfair trial which is contrary to the
interests of justice”, arguing he may
have the only existing proof that
Vardy or Watt leaked stories to him.
In response, the Sun’s lawyers are
refusing to disclose information on
the basis their journalists will not
betray their sources. Rooney’s team
are trying to convince a high court
judge that gossip stories about her
husband Wayne ’s basement fl ooding
are not worthy of the same journal-
istic protections aff orded to more
serious investigations.
The case is scheduled to go to trial
on 9 May. Rooney, the wife of Derby
County manager and former England
striker Wayne, ran an elaborate sting
operation that led her to claim, in late
2019, that Vardy, the wife of Leicester
City striker Jamie Vardy, was the
person leaking stories to the Sun.
Vardy says this is a lie and has sued
Rooney for libel. An early ruling in
a pre-trial hearing means Rooney is
required to prove it was Vardy who
personally leaked fake stories from a
private Instagram to the Sun , rather
than just someone with access to
Vardy’s Instagram account.
Despite the legal process lasting
almost three years, the court heard
Vardy ha d only just realised her agent
could have been leaking stories. Watt
was due to give evidence at the trial
but now says she is too ill to do so.
Rooney’s lawyers reject this
account of the events.▲ Coleen Rooney accused Rebekah
Vardy of leaking stories in late 2019
to obtain some potentially crucial
messages from Vardy and Watt,
after a series of incidents that have
aff ected the duo’s electronic devices,
the court has been told. Watt acciden-
tally dropped her phone in the North
Sea shortly after Rooney’s lawyers
requested to search it for messages.
Vardy employed an IT expert to back
up her WhatsApp messages but the
expert lost the password , and a lap-
top used by Vardy during the period
in question has stopped working.
Rooney’s lawyers also say elec-
tronic records suggest there wasmanual deletion of some WhatsApp
messages sent between Vardy and
Watt. Vardy’s lawyers told the court
she ha d “not destroyed or deliber-
ately lost any documents relevant
to this litigation”, which would be a
potentially serious legal issue.
In a last-ditch search for informa-
tion, Rooney’s lawyers are trying to
obtain copies of any conversations
that may have taken place between
the two women and the journalist
Andy Halls. They want the court to
require Halls to hand over his Whats-
App in order to avoid a “seriously