Rebekah Vardy dealt major blow after latest Coleen Rooney court battle

Coleen's legal team were cleared of claims that they had misled Rebekah Vardy.

Coleen Rooney's legal team have been cleared of claims they "knowingly misled" Rebekah Vardy, in another blow for Leicester City star Jamie's wife. The two WAGS found themselves in court again after accusations by Vardy's legal team that Coleen "deliberately" deceived the court over the £1.8million Wagatha Christie court costs.

The former I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star was ordered to pay 90 per cent of Coleen's legal fees after losing the infamous 2020 libel case, reports the Mirror. Mrs Rooney claims to have spent a whopping £1,833,906.89 to go head-to-head with Rebekah.

Jamie Carpenter KC, who is representing Rebekah, claimed the astronomical sum includes a bill for one of Coleen's legal team to stay at the plush Nobu Hotel. The bill, alleged Rebekah's lawyer, included "substantial dinner and drinks charges as well as mini bar charges."

Mr Carpenter also alleged that Coleen's team used an unfair approach when adding up all the costs incurred during the court trial. Mr Carpenter accused Coleen of "deliberately deceiving" the court by underestimating costs and the time taken to work on the case.

Rebekah's lawyer claims that she should not be ordered to pay £117,500 plus VAT for "expert fees", which was invoiced after the budget had reportedly been agreed in 2021. Robin Dunne, for Mrs Rooney, said that "there has been no misconduct" and that it was "illogical to say that we misled anyone."

In a ruling on Tuesday, Senior Costs Judge Andrew Gordon-Saker found "on balance and, I have to say, only just", that Mrs Rooney's legal team had not committed wrongdoing, and therefore it was "not an appropriate case" to reduce the amount of cash that Mrs Vardy should pay.

He said that while there was a "failure to be transparent", it was not "sufficiently unreasonable or improper" to constitute misconduct. Coleen's representative, Dunne, argued it was "outrageous" to accuse them of being dishonest and slammed Rebekah's "deplorable conduct", adding that the legal costs would have been lower if "she conducted this litigation appropriately."

However, the latest hearing in London was told that Mrs Rooney's claimed legal bill – £1,833,906.89 – was more than three times her "agreed costs budget of £540,779.07", which Mr Carpenter said was "disproportionate". He continued that the earlier "understatement" of some costs was "improper and unreasonable" and "involved knowingly misleading Mrs Vardy and the court".

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Mr Dunne said that the argument that the amount owed should be reduced was "misconceived" and that the budget was "not designed to be an accurate or binding representation| of her overall legal costs. He said: "Mrs Vardy's argument appears to arise from her frustration that her deplorable conduct in this litigation has led to the budgets becoming irrelevant."

He continued: "Had Mrs Vardy conducted this matter in a reasonable fashion, Mrs Rooney would be confined to her budget and would have recovered no more absent good reason."

The hearing is dealing with points of principle before a line-by-line assessment of costs, which will take place at a later date. Mrs Vardy and Mrs Rooney did not attend court on Tuesday, and the hearing will conclude on Wednesday.

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