Entertainment
Rebekah Vardy ‘could face bill of up to £2,000,000’ after losing Coleen Rooney libel trial-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro
It remains to be seen whether she will appeal.
Rebekah Vardy could be forking out a lot of money (Picture: PA/Getty)
Rebekah Vardy was left ‘extremely sad and disappointed’ after losing her libel trial to Coleen Rooney, with the judge ruling in the favour of her former friend.
The WAGs’ legal battle began in 2019 when stories started appearing in The Sun which Rooney alleged Vardy had sold to the press, revealing made up details about her private life.
Rooney was dubbed ‘Wagatha Christie’ after she conducted a months-long sting operation on Instagram, coming to the conclusion that it was the wife of Jamie Vardy who leaked the stories.
However, Vardy denied the allegations profusely and sued Wayne Rooney’s wife as a result.
The high profile trial lasted just over a week and had everyone hooked with its many bombshells, excruciating text messages and quite a lot of tears.
Now, Vardy has been landed with hefty legal costs after the trial’s verdict was revealed – and it’s predicted she could have to fork out up to £2million.
Vardy has pleaded with people to stop sending her abuse now the case is over (Picture: Reuters)
Michael Skrein, libel lawyer and senior partner at Reed Smith, said that even though the Wagatha case has already lasted over two years, the ruling isn’t the end of the story.
He says we can expect another hearing in a couple of months, where costs will be decided and Vardy will reveal whether she wants to try to appeal the judgment.
Explaining the next steps, he adds: ‘At this point the costs of the case are unknown, but the usual result is that the losing party pays for the winner’s costs. Once the court has decided that, the amount payable will be for the parties to agree, failing which it will be up to the court. They are almost never 100% of the final bill.
‘As Vardy will need to pay her own lawyers’ fees and most likely around two-thirds of Rooney’s, she could be facing a total of close to £2million.’
Rooney said she is ‘pleased’ following the outcome (Picture: PA)
On whether Vardy might appeal, Skrein says an appeal would have to be on the basis that the judge ‘got it wrong.’
‘Mrs Justice Steyn is a well-respected judge and she has delivered a lengthy and careful judgment. I would be surprised if permission for appeal were to be granted by the court,’ he says.
Although, Vardy was vocal about her thoughts on the judge’s ruling in a statement issued after the verdict was announced, and it seems she does indeed believe she ‘got it wrong.’
‘It is not the result that I had expected, nor believe was just. I brought this action to vindicate my reputation and am devastated by the judge’s finding,’ she said.
‘The judge accepted that publication of Coleen’s post was not in the “public interest” and she also rejected her claim that I was the “Secret Wag”. But as for the rest of her judgment, she got it wrong and this is something I cannot accept.’
The Wagatha Christie trial had the nation hooked (Picture: AP/Getty)
Rooney, on the other hand, is ‘pleased’ at the outcome of the trial, although admits it shouldn’t have reached court in the first place.
‘It was not a case I ever sought or wanted. I never believed it should have gone to court at such expense in times of hardship for so many people when the money could have been far better spent helping others’, Rooney said.
She added that the ‘leaks from my private Instagram account began in 2017’ and they ‘continued for almost two years’, ultimately ‘intruding on my privacy and that of my family’.
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‘Although I bear Mrs Vardy no ill-will, today’s judgment makes clear that I was right in what I said in my posts of October 2019’, Rooney added.
‘I would like to thank all of my legal team, my family, friends and everyone who supported me, including the public, through this difficult and stressful time.’
What happens next remains to be seen…
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