Coleen Rooney has officially filed her defence to the High Court, amid her ongoing legal battle against Rebekah Vardy.
Back in June, Jamie Vardy’s wife lodged court papers which claim Coleen libelled or slandered her last October – when she accused her of selling fake stories to the press.
The WAGs had previously attempted to settle the matter amicably, but after they failed to come to an agreement, Rebekah decided to take Coleen to the High Court.
Coleen publicly accused Rebekah of selling fake stories about her last October, after she planted false information on her personal Instagram.
The wife of Wayne Rooney claimed she planted false information on her private Instagram page and blocked everyone from her story – except Rebekah’s account.
The mother-of-four said stories about her basement flooding, returning to TV, and gender selection were only viewed by Rebekah’s account – and the false stories all made it into the press.
Coleen believed this was proof that the fellow WAG allegedly sold stories about her private life, but Rebekah has vehemently denied her claims.
In a 55-page document, which was seen by MailOnline, Coleen defended her decision to ‘expose’ Rebekah on social media – as she accused her of having close relationships with journalists.
She also accuses Rebekah of being The Sun’s ‘Secret Wag’, and the document also names journalists Coleen believes Rebekah is close to.
In a statement, Coleen’s solicitor Paul Lunt said: “We confirm our client, Coleen Rooney has now filed her defence to the High Court to proceedings which Rebekah has chosen to bring.”
“Coleen’s defence makes clear why, from the outset, she has been entirely confident in her position. She remains surprised and disappointed at Mrs Vardy’s decision to initiate these proceedings and to continue to pursue these matters through the courts.”
“Coleen has always said that this could and should have been resolved face to face without the need for court proceedings. Through Brabners, she has repeatedly offered Mrs Vardy the opportunity to meet face to face to resolve their differences.”
“These offers have included the assistance of a professional, independent mediator and remain open. So far at least, Mrs Vardy and her legal team have preferred instead to pursue these issues in court.”
“Accordingly, Coleen’s defence document has been filed as part of the court process requiring her to provide details on her position,” he continued.
“Although Coleen’s defence is necessarily a public document, out of respect to the court process, she will not make any comment on the issues it addresses. She reiterates her long-standing view that time and money spent on this legal case could and should be better used.”
“The Claimant [Vardy] acted in this way for the purposes of promoting herself and/or financially exploiting her public profile, particularly as the partner of the well-known footballer, Jamie Vardy.”
Coleen’s lawyers claim her post about Rebekah was a “legitimate matter of public interest”.
“The fact that information from her private Instagram account had been provided to and published in The Sun newspaper for millions of people to read was an issue which the Defendant was forced to make public on her social media,” they continued.
“Her Post was necessary because the very public disclosure of her private information had continued despite previous warnings she had put out publicly that someone with access to her private Instagram account was providing this information to The Sun for it to publish.”
“After careful investigation, the Defendant established that information from her private account which was published by the newspaper had only been accessible to and shared with the Claimant (through her Instagram account).
“No credible or verified ‘alternative’ explanation has been provided by the Claimant as to how the Defendant’s private information, which was shared only with her (through her Instagram account), could have been and was in fact given to The Sun.”
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