Wagatha Christie defamation trial

The facts surrounding the “Wagatha Christie” defamation trial have been widely publicised, particularly following Coleen Rooney’s recent appearance on popular reality TV show “I’m a celebrity… Get me out of here!”

However, for those who are not yet aware, the Wagatha Christie defamation trial was initiated when Rebekah Vardy issued proceedings against Coleen Rooney for libel based on an Instagram post. The post in question accused Vardy of leaking Rooney’s private Instagram stories to The Sun, of which Vardy subsequently denied.

Pursuant to the Defamation Act 2013, a statement is considered to be defamatory if its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the claimant.

There are a number of potential defences to defamation, including:

1. truth
2. honest opinion
3. public interest
4. reportage
5. privilege
6. qualified privilege.

Rooney defended the proceedings reliant upon the defences of ‘truth’ (the imputation conveyed by the statement complained of is substantially true) and ‘public interest’ (the statement was, or formed part of, a matter of public interest and the defendant reasonably believed that publishing the statement was in the public interest).

Mrs Justice Steyn found that Vardy was a party to the disclosure of Rooney’s private Instagram posts to The Sun, via her agent, Ms Watts. While the Judge accepted that Rooney believed that her statement publicly accusing Vardy was in the public interest, the Judge did not accept that it was a reasonable belief in circumstances where Rooney did not first provide Vardy with the opportunity to comment.

While Rooney was unsuccessful on arguing ‘public interest’, she successfully persuaded the Court on the ‘truth’ defence. The ground of ‘truth’ is a complete defence under Section 2 of the Defamation Act 2013 and so Vardy’s claim was dismissed and she became liable for a substantial proportion of Rooney’s costs.

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