Wagatha Christie: Vardy v Rooney

Research by Emily Thomas

Case Summary?

This high-profile case nicknamed Wagatha Christie involved Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney. After Ms Rooney discovered information from her private Instagram was being leaked to The Sun in 2017, she sought to discover who from her private circle was to blame.?Rooney carried out a ‘sting operation’ to determine who was responsible. By changing the settings on her private story, she allowed only Ms Vardy to view a series of posts. Over a period, she shared false stories to see if they appeared in the sun. Unsurprisingly to Ms Rooney, they did.?After posting to social media accusing Rebekah Vardy of leaking her private information, Ms Vardy sued Ms Rooney for Libel, a type of defamation under UK law. This meant Ms Rooney was then required to prove that her original statement was true, to defend her case (1, 2).?

Definition:


Libel is a written defamatory statement, causing injury to the

reputation of another.         

The Verdict

The verdict, released July 2022, stated that Rebecca Vardy and Caroline Watt were “Likely” to have leaked the private information to The Sun Newspaper. Rooney had successfully defended herself using the truth defence, by illustrating that her statement had been truthful. Although, the court found that the defence of public interest was not applicable, this was still a significant loss for Ms Vardy as, after multiple attempts to settle from Ms Rooney, the verdict has “branded her as a liar” (2, 3, 4).

Criticisms of Social Media?

As high-profile cases continue to spread across social media, the criticism of social media and its influence on legal proceedings is also on the rise.?Social Media has led to new avenues of legal action. The role of social media is ever changing, but this case has made clear that individuals can sue on allegations posted not just in print from newspapers but now on social media sites which has lead to an increase in defamation cases from years ago.?The negative emphasis on mental health and online trolling is prominent in the media. This case was no different in seeing cyberbullying messages on social media aimed at Rebecca Vardy from the initial posting of Ms Rooney’s accusation and throughout the trial. The criticism of social media in this case stems from sites providing access to private issues and people anonymously being able to share negative opinions. Without social media involvement such “public abuse on a massive scale” would undisputedly be reduced. Despite the verdict, social media plays a huge role in facilitating the communication of hurtful and abusive opinions.?

As Ms Rooney herself put it, social media could prove to cause huge money and time wasting for an already pressurised legal system. Cases such as this, which in Ms Rooney’s opinion “should never have gone to court”, could represent the feelings of many when looking at the string of high-profile cases in court recently.?Other criticisms could include individuals financially benefitting from sharing personal/ private information, which has been seen in this case to hold individuals accountable. Alternatively, the issues with evidence being predominantly found on social media sites and therefore easily disposable, whether that be intentionally or otherwise. All these criticisms should be considered when looking at the development of our court systems to deal with the modern world (2, 5).??

Research Links

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.