Wagatha Christie trial day four: The biggest developments
The last day of the Wagatha Christie trial this week sees Rebekah Vardy finish giving evidence, before Coleen Rooney then gives her version of events.
It was an emotional day at the Royal Courts of Justice for Vardy yesterday as she had to leave the stand at points in tears over questioning about private social media posts of Rooney's she is alleged to have leaked to the press.
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Friday's schedule will see Rooney get the chance to talk about what she feels happened and the "sting operation" she carried out to identify the leak.
The trial will resume again on Monday.
Rebekah Vardy apologises for 'shameful' Peter Andre interview
Peter Andre has been linked to the trial this week as he opened up on the years of mocking he endured after Vardy gave a tabloid interview about him in which she is said to have compared his manhood to a "mini chipolata".
Friday saw Vardy's own barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC give her the chance to address the story and her feelings on it now.
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Vardy said she did not say many things in the News Of The World article about a sexual encounter she had with Andre.
She told the court: “There’s a lot of things in there that didn’t come out of my mouth that were misrepresented in the circumstances around that article I’m deeply sorry for.”
She also said she was “very young” at the time, had apologised for the article, and that it was “shameful”, adding that she had sent “personal messages” to Andre and his partner since it was published.
Rebekah Vardy says stress of Wagatha Christie accusations left her fearful of losing her baby
Vardy has spoken before about the stress and upset that the sting operation accusations and abuse related to them caused her during her 2019 pregnancy.
She was in tears again on Friday as she recalled the tough personal time leading up to giving birth in December 2019, saying it had left her fearful of miscarriage.
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Talking about her claims to have accidentally deleted WhatsApp messages that were intended to be used as evidence in the trial while apparently trying to export them to a laptop, she said: “I wasn’t very well, I was having constant panic attacks, anxiety, I was scared I was going to lose my baby.”
She also had to leave the stand for a break after crying during questions about having messaged Mirror showbiz journalist Simon Boyle last year.
Vardy said of her reasons for contacting him: “I was angry, I was angry at repeated articles mocking my misery, mocking my hurt, mocking my upset”.
She objected to being seen as “entertainment”, adding: “I didn’t find it funny. It was hurtful. It was upsetting. This was my life.”
Coleen Rooney begins giving evidence
The court has the opportunity to hear the other side of the Wagatha Christie story from today as Rooney is sworn in as a witness.
She began by saying that Vardy would regularly contact her when her personal life was covered by the media, but as they weren't close friends she believed Vardy was fishing for information.
“I felt like when she contacted me it was to try and get information out of me,” she said.
Vardy’s messages to her came “when something not nice was going on in my personal life”, Rooney claimed. She said Vardy’s messages were “generally nice”, but added that “towards the end its was a bit unusual”.
“Someone who was not that close to me… constantly checking in with me all the time,” Rooney said.
Tomlinson said it must have been obvious that her sting operation post would cause abuse to be aimed at Vardy, but Rooney replied: “No that’s not my intention at all. I wouldn’t ever, it’s not in my nature to cause abuse or trolling in any way at all.”
The trial continues.
Watch: Peter Andre shares his thoughts on Rebecca Vardy 'chipolata' comments
