Jamie Vardy has been pictured for the first time today behind the wheel of his £130,000 Bentley following the sensational Wagatha Christie verdict.
The Leicester City footballer, 35, was pictured looking glum in the front seat of his Bentley Bentaya Azure amid his wife Rebekah’s High Court defeat on Friday – as the couple face an expensive £3million legal bill.
The bombshell libel trial led to a dramatic showdown between two of English football’s most prolific strikers as Wayne Rooney and Jamie went on the attack in defence of their wives.
Former England teammates Wayne and Jamie were once described as ‘close friends on and off the field’ by former England manager Roy Hodson but all that was kicked into touch as the high-profile trial unfolded.
Wayne, 36 dutifully accompanied his wife Coleen for each day of the trial, dressed in sharp suits that matched her formal outfits and the two were photographed purposefully striding into the High Court as they put on a united front.
Jamie, on the other hand, only accompanied Rebekah once during the trial, ironically on the day when his former international colleague Wayne was giving evidence.
Meanwhile, Mrs Vardy could still appeal against the bombshell ruling as she declared herself ‘devastated’ and branded the decision ‘unjust’ and ‘wrong’.
Sources close to Rebekah said that ‘nothing has been ruled out’ and that lawyers were still ‘combing over’ the 75-page judgment as they searched for possible grounds to take Coleen back to court.
The 40-year-old’s reputation is in tatters after she scored one of the worst own goals in British legal history after a High Court judge dismissed her evidence as ‘evasive or implausible’ and said she had deliberately deleted WhatsApp messages central to the case. Her agent was also told she had intentionally dropped her phone in the North Sea.
Jamie Vardy (pictured) has been pictured for the first time today since the sensational Wagatha Christie verdict behind the wheel of his £130,000 Bentley
The Leicester City footballer, 35, was pictured looking glum in the front seat of his Bentley Bentaya Azure amid his wife Rebekah’s High Court defeat on Friday
Rebekah Vardy and her Leicester City footballer husband Jamie pictured together outside the High Court on May earlier this year
Mrs Vardy and her footballer husband have been left with a £3million legal bill after Mrs Justice Steyn ruled in favour of Mrs Rooney in a judgment that said swathes of her evidence given under oath had been ‘manifestly inconsistent’, ‘not credible’ and needed to be treated with ‘very considerable caution’.
Rebekah, who now risks losing a quarter of the £12million fortune she shares with her husband Jamie, said: ‘I am extremely sad and disappointed at the decision that the judge has reached. It is not the result that I had expected, nor believe was just. I brought this action to vindicate my reputation and am devastated by the judge’s finding.
‘The judge accepted that publication of Coleen’s post was not in the ‘public interest’ and she also rejected her claim that I was the ‘Secret Wag’. But as for the rest of her judgement, she got it wrong and this is something I cannot accept’.
She added: ‘The case is over. I want to thank everyone who has supported me.’
It comes as Mrs Vardy returned to Instagram on Saturday and posted a picture of her walking away from a camera with the caption: ‘Peace out’ and showing a V-sign towards a camera.
The image shows Mrs Vardy wearing a black jacket with graffitied text reading ‘normal is boring’, along with blue denim shorts and black boots.
Mrs Vardy returned to Instagram on Saturday (pictured) and posted a picture of her walking away from a camera with the caption: ‘Peace out’ and showing a V-sign towards a camera
Rebekah Vardy and footballer husband Jamie (pictured leaving court at an earlier hearing) have been left with a £3m legal bill after Mrs Justice Steyn ruled in favour of Coleen Rooney
Coleen Rooney pictured arriving with husband Wayne to the High Court in London in May earlier this year
It comes as Vardy’s efforts to restore her reputation may include a documentary, a biography and two retail campaigns.
Sources close to Vardy hope a bidding war will break out among production companies, five of which are said to be interested, to create a documentary on the infamous case.
Bidders are expected to offer between £50,000 and £250,000 for her involvement, The Times reports.
Streaming giants Netflix, Amazon and Disney are already believed to be battling it out to broadcast Rooney’s side of the legal battle made by Lorton Entertainment – the same company responsible for the feature film on Wayne.
A source close to Coleen said she could be in line for ‘several million pounds’ for her participation.
Vardy’s Instagram post comes amid reports suggesting that Mrs Vardy has not ruled out a possible appeal despite legal experts claiming she has little hope of being successful and would be better off ‘retiring to a Scottish island’.
Vardy had sued over an accusation she had leaked details of her private life to the press. It came after Mrs Rooney had staged an elaborate sting operation to find out who was passing on stories about her private life to The Sun.
Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy together in 2016. The WAGs have ended up in court in the libel trial of the year and Mrs Vardy’s reputation is in tatters after bringing the case and losing
The judge, Justice Karen Steyn, said in her ruling that Coleen had successfully proved her allegation was substantially true.
Mrs Vardy will have to pay her rival’s costs as well as her own, which sources in both camps say comes to between £2million and £3million.
The huge legal bill means the Vardys may be forced to sell their beloved Portuguese villa to cover the costs.
Mrs Vardy relentlessly pursued the case against her Wag rival Coleen Rooney for nearly three years after being accused of leaking private stories about Coleen and her family to The Sun newspaper.
The bombshell verdict from Court 13 of the High Court was handed down remotely online at noon by Mrs Justice Steyn just over two months after the hearing in May. Vardy’s failed libel suit has been branded the most ill-advised in history.
Mrs Vardy had insisted on a full trial in the glare of the international media – and lost.
Legal expert Mark Stephens dashed cold water on any ideas Mrs Vardy may have had in terms of an appeal and described her decision to go to court as ‘ill-advised’.
He told MailOnline: ‘She has got no hope whatsoever of appealing. The judge has made findings on the fact, in order to appeal she has to demonstrate that the judge has erred in law some way – and she has not.
Mrs Vardy will have to pay her rival’s costs as well as her own, which sources in both camps say comes to between £2million and £3million
‘This case was always ill-advised. If you go into a libel courtroom, the lawyers are paid to dissect you. They did it. They damaged both women reputationally.
‘Unfortunately for Vardy the stain will be very long lived. She will be better off retiring to a Scottish island and not saying much ever again.
‘An appeal is going to be throwing good money after bad and this is already an own-goal. What you don’t want is an own hattrick that makes a disaster out of a crisis.’
Media litigator Matthew Dando, a partner at Wiggin LLP, told MailOnline: ‘It is a devastating and damning judgment for Rebekah Vardy that leaves her credibility in tatters. It is hard to imagine a stronger judicial condemnation of her evidence.
‘It will do real damage to Rebekah Vardy’s finances too as she will have to pay Coleen Rooney’s legal costs as well as her own.
‘It is hard to imagine Rebekah Vardy emerging from this with anything less than a fatal wound to her character and credibility’.
The High Court found that Mrs Rooney’s social media post accusing her rival was ‘substantially true’ and that Mrs Vardy ‘knew of, condoned and was actively engaged’ in leaks to the media by her ex-agent Caroline Watt.