Mrs. Vardy, model and wife of footballer Jamie Vardy, is trapped in a legal dispute with Wayne Rooney’s wife, Colin, in the High Court of London. Ms. Rooney, 36, has publicly accused Ms. Vardy, 40, of leaking stories about her private life to the press. Mrs Vardy denies the allegations and is suing for defamation. The case is being renamed Wagatha Christie after Detective Writer Agatha Christie, as Ms Rooney used social media to expose Ms Vardy as the culprit. Ms Rooney’s lawyers have called for the communications between Ms Vardy and her agent, Caroline Watt, to be revealed, which the court heard was a “pipeline” through which leaks were made. However, David Sherborne, representing Ms Rooney, said the request had been “disappointing” and that it had “seriously prejudiced” Ms Rooney’s case. The court had previously heard that Ms Watt’s phone had fallen into the North Sea before further details could be extracted from it.
‘I forgot my password’
At a hearing on Wednesday, the court heard that an IT expert commissioned by Ms. Vardy to export WhatsApp data for disclosure had “forgotten the password” she had used to access the material. Mr Sherborne told the judge: “We were told that Mrs Vardy’s expert had forgotten the password he had used to encrypt the material.” He said this means that Mrs Rooney’s legal team has only a “partial picture” of the conversations between Mrs Vardy and Mrs Watt. Hugh Tomlinson QC, who represents Ms. Vardy, said that “they did everything possible to give the right revelation.” Ms Vardy’s lawyers said her IT specialist had not forgotten the password to access the data, but that the one she had used before did not work. Sara Mansoori QC told the court: “She wrote the password in October last year, but this password does not work now. “There were issues of corruption that could be responsible for that.”
“Standard practice” of leaking personal information
Ms Rooney’s lawyers had previously gone to court for communication between Ms Vardy and Ms Watt, and in particular journalists at The Sun, where stories were leaked that were allegedly leaked by Ms Vardy. Mr Sherborne said: “We say that Mrs Vardy has a well-established practice and background in leaking personal information to others, particularly to The Sun. We say that what Mrs Vardy did to Mrs Rooney is just part of this established practice. It’s a leak of personal information. “ He said the “level of direct and close contact” between the two women and The Sun was “clear”. Justice Steyn, who was in the London High Court on Wednesday, ruled that messages exchanged between Ms Vardy and Andrew Halls, a Sun reporter behind Ms Rooney’s “bites”, should be shown to court. Ms Watt will not give oral evidence at the defamation trial. Her lawyers said she was “in a fragile position and expressed serious concerns about the deposition”.
