Wagatha Chritie back in High Court over 'sheer magnitude' of legal costs

The alleged Wagatha Christie quality has gone backmost to the High Court, with Rebekah Vardy challenging the "sheer magnitude" of the ineligible costs claimed by Coleen Rooney from their 2022 libel trial.

Mrs Vardy mislaid that lawsuit aft a justice ruled it was "substantially true" that she had leaked Mrs Rooney's backstage accusation to the press.

The justice ordered her to wage 90% of Mrs Rooney's costs, which were primitively said to beryllium little than £1.7m. Mrs Rooney present claims her ineligible measure reached much than £1.8m, including immoderate "extraordinary" costs, Mrs Vardy's lawyer said.

Mrs Rooney's barrister argued the costs could person been little if Mrs Vardy had "conducted this litigation appropriately".

Jamie Carpenter KC, representing Mrs Vardy, said Mrs Rooney's full included costs for a lawyer staying "at the Nobu Hotel, incurring important meal and drinks charges arsenic good arsenic mini barroom charges".

In written submissions for Monday's hearing, helium said: "The costs quality has been rendered peculiarly intractable by the sheer magnitude of the costs claimed by Mrs Rooney, successful implicit presumption and erstwhile compared to her agreed costs budget, the fig of errors successful the measure and the bonzer quality of immoderate of the costs claimed."

Mr Carpenter added that the measure was "drawn without capable care" and had "a 'kitchen sink' approach", and included "over £120,000 of costs to which Mrs Rooney has nary entitlement".

However, Robin Dunne, representing Mrs Rooney, said Mrs Vardy had chosen to motorboat the libel enactment "despite knowing that the Instagram station was true", and that she had had shown "deplorable conduct" successful the case.

He wrote: "Mrs Vardy refused to prosecute with Mrs Rooney to effort and debar these proceedings and by her behaviour meant that important further costs were required to beryllium incurred by Mrs Rooney."

He continued: "It sits sick successful Mrs Vardy's rima to present assertion that Mrs Rooney's costs, a large woody of which were caused straight by her conduct, are unreasonable."

Neither Mrs Rooney nor Mrs Vardy attended the proceeding earlier Senior Costs Judge Andrew Gordon-Saker connected Monday. It volition reason connected Wednesday.

Mrs Rooney, the woman of erstwhile England skipper Wayne Rooney, was nicknamed Wagatha Christie successful 2019 aft saying she had conducted a sting cognition to find retired who had leaked stories astir her from her backstage Instagram to the Sun newspaper. She concluded: "It's.... Rebekah Vardy's account."

That station led Mrs Vardy, the woman of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, to writer her for libel, and the proceedings attracted immense involvement erstwhile it reached tribunal 2 years ago.

Mrs Justice Steyn ruled that Mrs Rooney's accusation was "substantially true", saying it was apt Mrs Vardy "knew of, condoned and was actively engaged" successful the process of leaking stories astir Mrs Rooney to the Sun successful collaboration with Mrs Vardy's agent, Caroline Watt.

Mrs Rooney branded the proceedings "horrible" successful an interrogation with British Vogue past year.

She suggested she could not forgive Mrs Vardy for her libel claim, but said "the alleviation was everything" to win.

Mrs Vardy went connected to trademark the operation "Wagatha Christie" aft losing.