Rebekah Vardy could be entitled to a 'substantial damages award' for Wagatha Christie tweet
19.05.2022 - 22:19
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Rebekah Vardy could be entitled to a "substantial damages award" for the harm caused to her reputation by Coleen Rooney's Wagatha Christie tweet. Coleen had first accused Rebekah, who is married to Leicester City player Jamie, of leaking information shared from her private Instagram story in October 2019.
In a statement by Rebekah’s barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC at the end of the libel trial at London's High Court today (May 19), he claimed "serious harm" had been caused to Rebekah's reputation and "the award of damages ought to reflect that" - which were "substantial". He added that Rebekah still does not know how the information was leaked.
Rebekah is suing Coleen for libel in a trial that began last Tuesday. And in closing submissions Mr Tomlinson set out to Mrs Justice Steyn, who is presiding over the trial, why Rebekah should win the case.
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Addressing the judge, he argued Coleen “did not need to make a post” about Rebekah Vardy as it was “not in the public interest”. Mr Tomlinson said: “This is really a falling out between two individuals over what's essentially a private matter.
“We say the public interest is not actually engaged at all. If it was engaged, then it wasn’t reasonable for Mrs Rooney to put on a post in the way that she did. It wasn’t reasonable for her to believe it was in the public interest for her to post in the way she did at the time she did.
“She must have foreseen it would have a big impact. This is a serious and extremely upsetting matter that’s been a burden on her family over the past two-and-a-half years.”
The barrister said the idea Rebekah Vardy was a public figure that needed to