PERCHED on the very end of a narrow pew inside the historic wood-panelled arena of Court 13, Becky Vardy began to doodle on a tiny scrap of paper.
Her disastrous libel battle against arch rival was after an epic two week High trial.
And alone with her thoughts, tuned out as the judge made her closing remarks, picked up a pen and began to slowly sketch.
The picture she drew on the page spoke volumes of the self-inflicted bloodbath that had played out in the days before.
She penned a cartoon island, complete with a solitary palm tree and a few waves.
There was not enough time to draw in the sharks but they were circling… and she knew it.
Case QB-2020-002028 – a bitter – had, by then, all but sealed her fate as the nation's villain.
And yet, six years after began, she refuses to accept the outcome.
Last week, her appeal against – which she must pay as the loser – was thrown out by the High Court.
She was understandably disappointed but undeterred: sources say her lawyers are now contemplating one last throw of the dice by scrutinising Coleen's costs “line-by-line”.
It will inevitably lead to another hearing and yet more spent on lawyers' fees. For both sides.
Friends have urged Becky, 43, wife of striker , 38, to stop but she's not willing to let it go just yet.
A source dismissed claims she was throwing in the towel but did concede: “It feels like we are coming towards the beginning of the end.”
It was on a crisp and glorious May morning in 2022, sun shining and not a cloud in sight, that the long-awaited Wagatha libel trial began at the Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand.
Attempts to break the deadlock and agree an out of court settlement had all failed in the run up.
Coleen (flanked by husband ) and Becky (no Jamie) made their way into the court and sat at opposite ends of the front row pew below the gaze of the judge, Mrs Justice Steyn.
At its very heart was one question: did Becky Vardy leak Coleen's private information to the Press?
It was late afternoon when Becky eventually took to the witness stand.
Coleen's barrister, David Sherborne, rose to his feet to begin his cross examination behind a row of box files on the desk in front of him.
In a moment of pure theatre – and with a touch of devilment – one had been turned round to face Becky with the words “VARDY LIES” written down the spine.
Ms Vardy was generally unwilling to make factual concessions, however implausible her evidence
Mrs Justice Steyn
In the days that followed we watched with jaw-dropping disbelief a death by a thousand cuts: each wound deeper than the last.
Blow after blow after devastating blow.
Mr Sherborne – relishing the task in front of him and soon into his stride – dismantled her stories one after another with a tone of incredulity.
Becky was asked about the loss of crucial evidence on a phone belonging to her agent .
It had somehow slipped from Ms Watt's grasp and fallen overboard into the during a boating holiday in – just days after the court ordered her to hand it over to forensic experts.
‘Evil, fame-hungry liar'
Mr Sherborne wryly described it as one of several “unfortunate events” and said it was likely the phone contained key evidence.
He said: “We know that Ms Watt's phone is now in Davy Jones' Locker, don't we, Mrs Vardy?”
Becky replied: “I'm sorry, I don't know who Davy Jones is.”
Once the sniggering had stopped, the judge explained Mr Sherborne's nautical reference.
Miss Watt eventually refused to play any part in the libel trial – insisting her had suffered amid the strain.
And then, as we sat quietly on the Press benches, text messages between Becky and Miss Watt were read out by Mr Sherborne.
The uncomfortable exchanges chronicled plots to betray Jamie's Leicester City pals and .
They also discussed tipping off the Press about a love triangle involving a married female TV star and a high-profile footballer.
And they hatched a plot with paparazzi photographers to take a now infamous snap of ‘s outside a restaurant in St Petersburg during the .
Becky dismissed the messages as “jokes” and “gossip” before performing a juddering – and excruciating – U-turn as the messages were read aloud.
I'm not a bad person. It's not true. I have never done anything to them for them to call me…monitor me or stalk me
Coleen Rooney
In a moment of high drama she eventually folded.
She had tipped off journalists about former England midfielder Drinkwater's drink-drive arrest in April 2019 – and even demanded: “I want paying for this.”
Miss Watt was later identified as the ‘likely' source of the leaks.
Bitter end
If tearful Becky was evasive and unconvincing in the witness box, Coleen by contrast was straight-talking, calm and composed.
She branded Becky “an evil, fame-hungry liar” and told how she had been “stalking and monitoring” her private account for months in a bid to find stories to pass on.
Messages between Becky and Caroline had been particularly savage – calling Coleen “a c***” and a “stupid cow” who “deserves everything she gets”.
Coleen, who was grilled across two days in the witness box, said: “The messages that went on between them were just evil and uncalled for, speaking about someone they don't know.
“I'm totally the opposite of what they described.
“I'm not a bad person. It's not true. I have never done anything to them for them to call me…monitor me or stalk me.”
She told how she posted up to five or six fake stories a day on her private Instagram account to catch the culprit – and told no one, not even hubby Wayne.
She spoke openly about the “unfortunate things” that had happened in her life, a reference to Wayne's wandering, and how she had tried to keep their private life private.
In a moment of humility she added: “I'm not one to draw attention to myself. I never have been. I never wanted it.
“I have never spoken about this until this case, so I haven't dwelled on it, to be honest with you I have hated every minute of it.”
There was even enough time for Wagatha #2 as Wayne and Jamie locked horns.
Jamie accused him of “” in the witness box whilst Wayne branded him “a bottler” for refusing to give evidence on oath.
For the lucky few of us with a ringside seat, it was everything we had hoped it would be and some.
Two months later the verdict was in and, as we had all expected, it was a resounding win for Coleen and a crushing defeat for Becky.
Mrs Justice Steyn dismissed her evidence as “not credible, evasive, inconsistent and implausible”.
In a damning ruling she said Becky and Caroline had been leaking stories for two years and then destroyed evidence to cover their tracks.
She said: “I find that it is, unfortunately, necessary to treat Ms Vardy’s evidence with very considerable caution.
“There were many occasions when her evidence was manifestly inconsistent with the contemporaneous evidence and others where she was evasive.
“Ms Vardy was generally unwilling to make factual concessions, however implausible her evidence.
“This inevitably affects my overall view of her credibility, although I have borne in mind that untruthful evidence may be given to mask guilt or to fortify innocence.”
In the wake of the judgement, Becky expressed her disappointment at a result she had not expected, nor believed was just.
In a statement she added: “The case is over.”
If only that were true. For now, only one person is willing this on to the bitter end.
It's…Rebekah Vardy.
