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Rebekah Vardy Attempted To Sell Story Of Drink-Driving Footballer To The Sun, The High Court Hears

Rebekah Vardy Attempted To Sell Story Of Drink-Driving Footballer To The Sun, The High Court Hears

The claim has emerged as part of Vardy's ongoing 'Wagatha Christie' libel battle against Coleen Rooney.

Rory O'Callaghan

Rory O'Callaghan

Rebekah Vardy attempted to sell a story about the arrest of footballer Danny Drinkwater to The Sun, the High Court has heard.

But the court has been told that Vardy, the wife of Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, was turned down because the newspaper had already been leaked the story by an individual at the police station.

The claim has emerged as part of Vardy's ongoing 'Wagatha Christie' libel battle against Coleen Rooney, the wife of former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.

Former Leicester midfielder Danny Drinkwater was arrested for drink-driving in 2019 (Image: PA)
Former Leicester midfielder Danny Drinkwater was arrested for drink-driving in 2019 (Image: PA)

Coleen Rooney has accused Rebekah Vardy of leaking her family's private information as well as false stories to The Sun – claiming she identified her as the culprit responsible following a sting operation on social media.

Vardy denies the accusations and is suing Rooney for libel.

Drinkwater, a former teammate of Jamie Vardy at Leicester, was arrested for drink-driving in 2019 after crashing his Range Rover.

The midfielder, who is now on loan at Reading from Chelsea, was later banned from driving for 20 months and ordered to do 70 hours of community service.

Rebekah Vardy attempted to sell the story to The Sun, The High Court has heard (Image: PA)
Rebekah Vardy attempted to sell the story to The Sun, The High Court has heard (Image: PA)

Before news of the crash had gone public, Rebekah Vardy messaged her agent, Caroline Watt, to inform her what had happened.

Vardy told her agent: "Story … Danny Drinkwater arrested […] Crashed his car drunk with 2 girls in it … both in hospital one with broken ribs x."

Vardy then added: "I want paying for this x."

Watt then sent the story to The Sun journalist Andy Halls, whom she said "replied immediately" that the newspaper already were already aware because "someone leaked it from police station".

The messages have been made public as part of the ongoing legal case between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney (Image: PA)
The messages have been made public as part of the ongoing legal case between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney (Image: PA)

The messages have been made public as part of the ongoing legal case between Rooney and Vardy, which is due to go to a week-long trial on May 9.

Rooney's lawyers have claimed that Vardy leaked information to The Sun either directly or through Watt "acting on her instruction or with her knowing approval".

The case is set to hinge on whether Rooney can prove that Vardy was personally responsible for leaking stories from her Instagram account.

Featured Image Credit: PA Images

Topics: Jamie Vardy, Danny Drinkwater, Leicester City, Football, Premier League

Rory O'Callaghan is Editorial Lead at SPORTbible. He has previously worked for Sky Sports News, MailOnline and Reach covering football, cricket, boxing and MMA. Tested daily as a Liverpool fan in a Manchester office.

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