Rebekah Vardy 'disappointed' as she loses latest court battle with rival Coleen Rooney

Rebekah Vardy says she’s “disappointed” after losing her latest court battle against Wagatha Christie rival . A High Court ruled today that Coleen’s lawyers did not commit misconduct after Vardy’s teams accused them of "deliberately" understating some of her costs in her high-profile libel battle.

It comes after Rebekah unsuccessfully sued Coleen in 2022, with the two now in further dispute over how much Rebekah should pay in legal costs as a result. A hearing last October was told that Coleen's claimed legal bill - £1,833,906.89 - was more than three times her "agreed costs budget of £540,779.07".

Reacting to today’s ruling, Rebekah says she now wanted to “move on” from the saga. A spokesperson for Vardy said: "In terms of the two judgements today, we are gratified that disclosure has been obliged in one ruling whilst being respectfully disappointed that, in the other judgement, our appeal was not successful. Now we just wish to move on and look to the future. We will be making no further comment at this time."

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In October last year, a specialist costs judge ruled Coleen's lawyers did not commit misconduct after they were accused by Rebekah's legal team of understating some of her costs.

Rebekah appealed against the decision last month, claiming it constituted "serious misconduct", while Coleen's lawyers claimed the challenge was "misconceived".

Today, Mr Justice Cavanagh dismissed the appeal. He said: "The appeal must fail on the basis that the judge was entitled to reach the conclusion that he came to."

In 2019, Coleen, the wife of former striker , accused Rebekah of leaking her private information to the press on social media, which Mrs Justice Steyn found in July 2022 was "substantially true".

The judge later ordered Rebekah, the wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, to pay 90% of Coleen's costs, including an initial payment of £800,000.A hearing last October was told that Coleen's claimed legal bill - £1,833,906.89 - was more than three times her "agreed costs budget of £540,779.07".

Jamie Carpenter KC, for Rebekah, said that this was "disproportionate", and that the earlier "understatement" of some costs was "improper and unreasonable" and used to "attack the other party's costs".

Senior Costs Judge Andrew Gordon-Saker said that while there was a "failure to be transparent" by Coleen's legal team, he found "on balance and, I have to say, only just" that they had not committed wrongdoing.

In written submissions for the appeal against the decision last month, Mr Carpenter said Mrs Rooney "very substantially understated" her costs by around 40% in her budget, known as a "precedent H", in 2021, and that the amount Mrs Vardy should pay should therefore be reduced.

Benjamin Williams KC, for Coleen, said in his written submissions that her budget was "properly and correctly completed" and there was "no tenable case" of misconduct.

In a 38-page ruling, Mr Justice Cavanagh found that Judge Gordon-Saker had "ample material" to reach his decision, adding that there was "no valid basis for challenging on appeal the judge's conclusion".

He said: "The court was not persuaded that the claimant had proved that the defendant's legal advisers had deliberately misled the court, or the claimant, either by things said or things not said. There had been a misjudgement in the form of a failure to be more transparent about the basis upon which the defendant's figures for incurred costs had been prepared, but that was as far as it went.

"The judge was entitled to make the evaluative judgment that this did not amount to unreasonable or improper behaviour, especially as he was so well-placed to form a view about practice in relation to costs."

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