The Wagatha Christie Trial (aka The Scoucetrap!)

Celebrity stuff like this is not really my scene at all but I must admit to being quite amused by some of the stuff coming out of the trial so far!

Already we've heard that the key piece of evidence (the phone of Vardy's agent Caroline Watt) 'accidently' fell into the North Sea the day after it was ordered to be handed in for examination, that the said Ms Watt has a sicknote so can't give any evidence, and the Vardy has already admitted to 'errors' in her previous statements presented to the trial.

Today we had this gem...

“If I’m honest…” starts Vardy as she’s asked about the Wag photo

Mr Sherborne jumps in

“We’ll I’d much rather you’re honest because you’re standing in the witness box”

— Poppy Wood (@poppyeh) May 12, 2022

Apparently the case has to hinge on whether or not it can be proved that Vardy 'leaked' Ms Rooney's social media stories.  It's looking quite obviously at this stage that Watt was the one that 'dun it', via access allowed to her by Vardy to the social media account with Rooney.

Vardy's case is that she didn't know Watt had 'leaked' anything and that she had done so without Vardy's knowledge or permission.

Rooney's barrister would obviously have deduced that defence beforehand but clearly has been instructed to have his day in court as I guess money is no object to either of the Wags but their reputation is and that currently Vardy's is hilariously being ripped to pieces by Rooney's counsel David Sherborne.

Since when have 'footballers wives' been a thing? Shut up, and get the hoover out.

boltonbonce wrote:Since when have 'footballers wives' been a thing? Shut up, and get the hoover out.

I'm sorry, would you like me to do the dusting and polishing as well...?

Sluffy wrote:

I'm sorry, would you like me to do the dusting and polishing as well...?

I meant the wives.

boltonbonce wrote:I meant the wives.

I know, just pulling your leg.

Back to the court case though...

Rebekah Vardy is accused of deliberately deleting screenshots, WhatsApp messages and audio files between her and her agent

Vardy denies deleting them + says they were lost

She tells the court: “It’s extremely unfortunate because those files would have been extremely helpful”

— Poppy Wood (@poppyeh) May 12, 2022

Rooney’s lawyer accuses Rebekah Vardy of deleting all communication with her agent 5 days after Rooney’s legal team sent her a letter saying they would be requesting all relevant files

Vardy shakes her head, shuts the court bundle and starts crying again

— Poppy Wood (@poppyeh) May 12, 2022

I know we have to hear both sides of the story before reaching a view but it does seem very much like a deliberate cover up by Vardy so far.

A couple of earlier reports of the case as well..

Vardy runs out of the courtroom in tears

The trial pauses for an emergency break

— Poppy Wood (@poppyeh) May 12, 2022

Hope this case doesn't drag on, although I'm sure the tabloids are loving it.

boltonbonce wrote:Hope this case doesn't drag on, although I'm sure the tabloids are loving it.

"Set to last for seven days" apparently.

Not sure if that means a normal seven day 'week' or it means seven 'working' days, though?

It's been quite funny up to now watching an obvious liar squirm and try their very utmost not to admit they have copiously lied - but of course you know very well I do like that sort of thing!

No names, no pack drill, as you say though of course!  

Another gem from today's hearing...

Coleen Rooney’s lawyer mentions Rebekah Vardy’s agent’s phone that fell into the North Sea: “these messages are in Davy Jones’s locker aren’t they?”

Vardy “Who is Davy Jones? I don’t know who that is.”

— Julian Druker (@Julian5News) May 12, 2022

Sluffy wrote:Another gem from today's hearing...

Coleen Rooney’s lawyer mentions Rebekah Vardy’s agent’s phone that fell into the North Sea: “these messages are in Davy Jones’s locker aren’t they?”

Vardy “Who is Davy Jones? I don’t know who that is.”

— Julian Druker (@Julian5News) May 12, 2022

FFS!

He was on Corrie AND in the Monkees.
Does this woman know anything????

Some more fun from today's hearing...

“I don’t understand why the press are interested in most things because I wouldn’t be wanting to read most of the things they publish about me,” says Coleen Rooney

Vardy’s lawyer replies: “I think that’s something everyone can agree on”

— Poppy Wood (@poppyeh) May 13, 2022

You can put lipstick on a pig....

wanderlust wrote:You can put lipstick on a pig....

Leave Nat out of this.

It's not been quite as funny since Vardy got off the witness stand but below is one instance that made me smile and a bit of a 'killer' statement at the end of the trial (no action tomorrow and judges summing up on Thursday) by an expert witness!

PR consultant Penny Adaarewa takes the witness stand to defend Coleen Rooney

“You say here in your witness statement that a meeting took place at a restaurant/bistro. What does that mean?” asks Vardy’s lawyer

“It means it took place at either a bistro or restaurant,” she says

— Poppy Wood (@poppyeh) May 17, 2022

IT expert says he believes Rebekah Vardy deliberately wiped her WhatsApp messages

“Based on the information provided, I would suggest it was a manual deletion,” he tells the court

— Poppy Wood (@poppyeh) May 17, 2022

Rebekah Vardy has lost her libel case against Coleen Rooney, bringing the so-called Wagatha Christie trial to an end, the PA news agency reports.

BREAKING
Judge says Rooney's Wagatha Christie post was 'substantially true'
In her ruling, obtained by the PA news agency, Mrs Justice Steyn said it was "likely" that Rebekah Vardy's then-agent, Caroline Watt, "undertook the direct act" of passing the information to The Sun newspaper.

"Nonetheless, the evidence... clearly shows, in my view, that Mrs Vardy knew of and condoned this behaviour, actively engaging in it by directing Ms Watt to the private Instagram account, sending her screenshots of Mrs Rooney's posts, drawing attention to items of potential interest to the press, and answering additional queries raised by the press via Ms Watt," she added.

Mrs Justice Steyn continued: "In my judgment, the conclusions that I have reached as to the extent to which the claimant engaged in disclosing to the Sun information to which she only had access as a permitted follower of an Instagram account which she knew, and Mrs Rooney repeatedly asserted, was private, suffice to show the single meaning is substantially true."

https://boltonnuts.forumotion.co.uk/t24121-the-wagatha-christie-trial-aka-the-scoucetrap#440669


Of course it was Vardy who leaked everything through her agent!

Everyone could see that!

Stupid woman.

Mrs Justice Steyn has found that Rebekah Vardy's evidence in the trial was "manifestly inconsistent" with other evidence on "many occasions".

In her judgement, she said: "It was evident that Mrs Vardy found the process of giving evidence stressful and, at times, distressing. I bear in mind when assessing her evidence the degree of stress she was naturally feeling, given the high-profile nature of the trial, the abuse that she has suffered since the reveal post was published, and the length of time she was in the witness box."

"Nevertheless," the judge continued, "I find that it is, unfortunately, necessary to treat Mrs Vardy's evidence with very considerable caution.

Quote Message: There were many occasions when her evidence was manifestly inconsistent with the contemporaneous documentary evidence, eg. in relation to the World Cup 2018 and the photoshopped pictures, and others where she was evasive."

Mrs Justice Steyn continued: "Mrs Vardy was generally unwilling to make factual concessions, however implausible her evidence.

"This inevitably affects my overall view of her credibility, although I have borne in mind that untruthful evidence may be given to mask guilt or to fortify innocence."

Discussing the information that was shared from Rooney's private Instagram account, Mrs Justice Steyn said:

Quote Message: The information disclosed was not deeply confidential, and it can fairly be described as trivial, but it does not need to be confidential or important to meet the sting of the libel.

Quote Message: It was information derived from private posts that Mrs Rooney did not want made public. The Pyjamas Post, for example, was a photograph that Mrs Rooney may well have been content to share publicly at a different point in time, but the timing of its disclosure revealed very personal information that she had chosen not to make public."

The Pyjamas post mentioned in the judgement refers to a picture of Rooney's husband Wayne in bed with three of his sons in spotted pyjamas, which Rooney shared on her private Instagram account.

The judge added that while two of the stories posted by Mrs Rooney were fabricated, "this does not detract from the conclusion that the essential sting of the libel has been shown to be true".

A key feature of the trial - one Coleen Rooney's barrister sarcastically labelled "a series of unfortunate events" - was the fact WhatsApp messages between Rebekah Vardy and her agent Caroline Watt were not available during the trial.

Watt later claimed she'd dropped her phone in the North Sea while on a boat trip in Scotland, while Vardy's team claimed at pre-trial that an IT expert tasked with securing the material had “forgotten the password which he used to encrypt the material”.

In her judgement, Mrs Justice Steyn says these reasons "are each improbable", adding:

Quote Message: But the improbability of the losses occurring in the way they describe is heightened by the fact that it took the combination of these improbable events for the evidence to be unavailable.

Quote Message: In my judgment, it is likely that Ms Vardy deliberately deleted her WhatsApp chat with Ms Watt, and that Ms Watt deliberately dropped her phone in the sea."

In a statement issued to the PA news agency, Coleen Rooney said: "Naturally, I am pleased that the judge has found in my favour with her judgement today.

"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.

"Both before and after my social media posts in October 2019, I made every effort to avoid the need for such a drawn out and public court case. All my attempts to do so were knocked back by Mrs (Rebekah) Vardy.

"This left me with no alternative but to go through with the case to defend myself and to end the repeated leaking of my private information to The Sun.

"These leaks from my private Instagram account began in 2017. They continued for almost two years, intruding on my privacy and that of my family. 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.

"Finally, 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."