The "Wagatha Christie" Coleen Rooney/ Rebekah Vardy court case

[Iwantacatnotcovid]

Is anyone else following it?

Vardy's phone was accidentally dropped into the North Sea... Yeah right!

[RockStarMartini]

I love that Jamie Vardy/Steptoe pic!

Embarrassed to admit I'm totally hooked on this, RV is awful!

[QuebecBagnet]

Even if RV wins the world and their wife knows that CR is right

sadly RV will probably be an insufferable cow in interviews etc if she wins

[RoyalCorgi]

@Candleabra

I see.
So the evidence for Colleen to prove this has been lost. RV has denied everything. And the agent is too unwell to take part in the trial.

Is there a point where the balance of probabilities takes over for Colleen? So the judge decides that the steps RV has seemingly taken to avoid any evidence being brought to light constitutes guilt?

To answer your original question, it's the way libel works in the UK. If I say "John Smith is a paedophile" and then John Smith sues me for libel, it's up to me to prove that he is a paedophile, not for Smith to prove that he isn't. And that's not unreasonable.

The important thing to remember, though, is that Rooney doesn't have to prove her statement beyond reasonable doubt, just on the balance of probabilities. And I think she and her lawyers have done a good job of doing that. It seems clear that only Vardy and Watt had access to the Instagram account - at least I've seen no evidence that anyone else had access to it. The fact that a lot of the evidence has been conveniently lost, and that Watt is too ill to testify, will, I think count in Rooney's favour. A key bit of evidence yesterday from an IT expert suggested that the missing WhatsApp messages had been deliberately deleted. I'm surprised that hasn't been more widely reported because it seems highly significant.

[burnoutbabe]

its possible that technically RV will win as colleen can't prove its true.

However it is then very possible that damages of say £1 will be awareded (as in the case of Grobbelar being accused of match fixing (or the judge decided being accused of throwing a specific game) and whilst he had agreed to match fixing i think, it could not be proven he threw a specific game.

So he won £1. And mroe importantly in this case, they do not have to say that loser pays winners costs.

So whilst techincally RV can win, the judge can ensure it still costs her a bomb (though colleen also has her own legal costs to bring)

[newnamethanks]

Jeffrey Archer and Jonathan Aitken both perjured themselves in libel trials and latterly suffered the consequences, both serving prison sentences. Mrs V needs to concentrate. If she thinks she's got a reputation worth salvaging she should withdraw even now.

[user1471543094]

Does anybody remember the episode of father Ted where they put a tiny dent in the car and then try to knock it out with a hammer and end up wrecking the whole thing.

That's Vardy trying to repair the damage to her reputation in this trial.

[ImAvingOops]

You'd think so, wouldn't you? Hard to prove a case with loads of evidence missing.
I don't know how Vardy can claim that her reputation has been damaged by CR's words, given how she's been behaving.
I bet that FA official loved giving evidence about how Vardy wouldn't move seats and how her guests spoke to her - revenge is a dish best served cold!

[Candleabra]

@MichaelAndEagle

Its because Colleen's defence is that it isn't libel because what she said is true.
So if she can prove its true, she's not guilty of libel.

I see.
So the evidence for Colleen to prove this has been lost. RV has denied everything. And the agent is too unwell to take part in the trial.

Is there a point where the balance of probabilities takes over for Colleen? So the judge decides that the steps RV has seemingly taken to avoid any evidence being brought to light constitutes guilt?

[Menstrualcycledisplayteam]

@PortiaFimbriata

Can anyone explain what the point was of Wayne's appearance? What was his evidence meant to prove?

I'm guessing it was meant to prove that RV's links with the media, specifically The Sun, are longstanding (as the England team management wanted her to "calm down" her column in The Sun).

[Crazykatie]

I had a good laugh at a joke on Facebook this morning,
If their husbands weren’t millionaires this dispute would have been settled outside a club at 2am, fighting until a boob fell out!.

[PortiaFimbriata]

Can anyone explain what the point was of Wayne's appearance? What was his evidence meant to prove?

[PortiaFimbriata]

@Candleabra

I’m sure it’s been explained already but I don’t understand why the burden of proof is on Coleen if RV took her to court. I always thought it was up to the complainant to prove their case.

To claim for libel Vardy has to demonstrate that:
CR published the words
The words would damage RV's reputation

RV has basically done her side (if you accept that she had a reputation worth defending)

So CR is claiming in her defence that what she says is true and she has to prove that on the balance of probabilities.

If it didn't work that way round than anyone could say anything about anybody - I could accuse David Attenborough of kicking kittens behind closed doors and he'd have to prove he didn't. Likewise in a criminal trial if you say "yes I did it but it was self defence", you have to prove that it was self defence , the prosecution doesn't have to prove that the victim didn't attack you.

[MichaelAndEagle]

@Candleabra

I’m sure it’s been explained already but I don’t understand why the burden of proof is on Coleen if RV took her to court. I always thought it was up to the complainant to prove their case.

Its because Colleen's defence is that it isn't libel because what she said is true.
So if she can prove its true, she's not guilty of libel.

[Spudlet]

RV must have a screw loose to have brought this case, honestly. What was she thinking?! Regardless of whether she wins or loses, she just looks terrible - all those horrible texts, and witnesses saying that she worked with paps and all of it, really. She just looks like a fame-hungry mean girl.

Even if CR loses, at worst she looks like someone who was too hasty to make accusations, and went down the ‘drama!’ route to deal with a problem, but honestly not much worse than that I think. And given how much money her husband is worth, they can afford to lose.

@Gymnopedie No, it’s not exactly glowing testimony, is it?!

[ImAvingOops]

Presumably the agent wants to work again. Her career is in the toilet too after these texts have come out. She can't say that she leaked stories without Vardy's knowledge - who would ever work with her again?

[ImAvingOops]

Even if Vardy could produce witnesses who admitted to having access to her account, they aren't going to say they leaked stories without her knowledge or approval. Why would they? Whichever way she moves, she just digs herself in deeper.

[Candleabra]

I’m sure it’s been explained already but I don’t understand why the burden of proof is on Coleen if RV took her to court. I always thought it was up to the complainant to prove their case.

[QuebecBagnet]

I suppose (might be wrong) the reason why RV doesn’t have to call other witnesses who she says she thinks may be responsible for the leaks is because the case isn’t about finding out who did the leaks. RV just needs to demonstrate CR can’t prove it was RV. Though guess it would have been a better case for RV if she could have paid/persuaded her agent to stand up and confess to it! Telling that that hasn’t happened.

[Candleabra]

It certainly isn’t. If that’s the best thing he can say then it’s very telling,

[Gymnopedie]

did RV call her own IT expert as a witness?

She did, but she might now be wishing she hadn't. From the BBC website:

Technical expert Ian Henderson, instructed by Mrs Vardy, told the court late on Tuesday he found it "surprising" there was an "absence" of WhatsApp messages between her and her agent Caroline Watt after the former tried to export messages from her device to her solicitors.

It's hardly unswerving support for his client is it?

[Spudlet]

It seems crazy that RV can have been allowed to just ‘lose’ evidence in this way with no apparent consequences (yet). The testimony of the IT expert seems to have been pretty damning today - did RV call her own IT expert as a witness?

[Grrrpredictivetex]

Every time I see JV I also see this

[Candleabra]

It’s a shame that RV will probably win on a technicality when she has been shown in such a poor light. And all you need to do is “lose” all the evidence and deny everything to build a concrete case.
I hope they find in favour of Colleen.
Either way, expect a full 8 pages in hello of “my courtroom hell” from RV.

[friendlycat]

I'm not surprised RV and JV left early. She's no doubt feeling sick to her stomach knowing that she's brought all of this on herself. The idea of then having to sit through data experts discussing the deletion of evidence was no doubt too much for her.

Surprised by JV's comment outside court as surely that's not allowed either?

She really has been an absolute muppet bringing this case to court. JV was already the victim of football chanting about his wife being a "grass" (that I don't condone in the slightest) and just imagine how much worse it's going to be after this.

His footballing days must be nearing an end at 35 and to waste money that won't be coming in at the same rate in the future, plus to potentially jeopardise his selection within the team due to chanting and distraction is beyond madness of his wife. Let alone the damage she has done to herself.

Not only has she severely damaged her own reputation socially, professionally and all ways round but the knock on effect for her husband is also questionable.

CR has demonstrated a clear and calm head throughout, whatever the outcome. RV has demonstrated that she's just a nasty piece of work with a foul mouth and prepared to sell anyone out for a fee from The Sun. Just imagine what this case would have actually been like if all the data had not been "lost"?! It's still been highly damaging with the limited amount that has come to light.

It's been highly entertaining I must admit, but her credibility is now on the floor. There is absolutely no way that she can redeem herself after this even if the judge rules, by technicality, that CR cannot absolutely prove that RV was responsible for leaking these stories.

RV has scored the biggest own goal ever.

[TigerLilyTail]

They're supposed to wrap everything up tomorrow (Wednesday).

Not sure if the verdict come straight away or not.