Rebekah Vardy must pay Coleen Rooney £100,000 by end of month

10 comments

1. ***The Telegraph reports***:

   Rebekah Vardy has been ordered to pay £100,000 to Coleen Rooney by the end of the month, as she continues to challenge costs in the “Wagatha Christie” libel trial.

   It is five years to the day since Mrs Rooney, wife of Wayne Rooney, the former Manchester United footballer, announced on social media that she had identified the source of leaks of her private Instagram stories, with the words: “It’s … Rebekah Vardy’s account.”

   The post went viral, sparking a High Court showdown, a Netflix documentary series and even a West End play.

   Mrs Vardy sued for libel but lost, with the judge in the 2022 case ruling that she must pay £1.62 million – 90 per cent of Mrs Rooney’s £1.8 million costs.

   Lawyers for the warring parties have returned to the High Court as Mrs Vardy tries to reduce the “extravagant” bill, which included a £2,000 stay at the five-star Nobu Hotel for Mrs Rooney’s lead solicitor.

   At the end of the three-day hearing, there were small victories for both sides.

   Andrew Gordon-Saker, the Senior Costs Judge, ruled that Mrs Vardy, wife of Jamie Vardy, the Leicester City striker, must make a new payment of £100,000 within 21 days. Mrs Vardy has already handed over £800,000, as directed by the original trial judge, paid in three instalments.

   Mrs Rooney’s lawyers had applied for a new payment of £200,000, while Mrs Vardy’s lawyers opposed the application.

   Mrs Vardy’s lawyers succeeded in reducing the total costs bill from £1.8 million to £1.725 million by arguing that the hourly rates charged by some of Mrs Rooney’s lawyers were too high. 

   In the case of the highest-paid ‘Grade A’ lawyer for Stewarts, a London firm specialising in defamation, the bill submitted was for an hourly rate of £635, but the judge ordered that Mrs Vardy should pay £500.

   This reduced the potential amount that Mrs Vardy must pay from £1.62 million to £1.552 million.

   **Full story:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/09/rebekah-vardy-must-pay-coleen-rooney-100000-by-end-of-month/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/09/rebekah-vardy-must-pay-coleen-rooney-100000-by-end-of-month/)

2. Damn the only people who win when stupid people fight are the lawyers. These guys hang in £2k a night hotels on expenses. Can’t even blame them!

3. You’d have to spend the whole lot on something outrageous and then tag her on Insta with a “cheers”.

4. Considering Mr Vardy earns 140k a week…I think they will be fine.

5. I’m sure Jamie is absolutely delighted by this 😂

6. Can’t believe this was newsworthy

7. Who cares ?! Slow news day

8. #fuck the torygraph

9. How is this news? Who cares. No wonder soaps are popular.

10. Jamie better keep scoring the goals😉