TRIUMPHANT Coleen Rooney today said the staggering Wagatha Christie costs would have been "better spent helping others".

Coleen went head-to-head in an explosive £3million showdown with Rebekah Vardy after accusing her of leaking stories to the press.

Coleen, 36, today came out on top and won the landmark libel case – bringing an end to the three-year saga.

She said in a statement she was "pleased" with the ruling but said she "never believed" the case should have gone to court "at such expense in times of hardship for so many people when the money could have been far better spent helping others".

Coleen told how she was left with "no alternative" but to go through with the case to "defend" herself and end the leaking of stories.

She added: "Both before and after my social media posts in October 2019, I made every effort to avoid the need for such a drawn out and public court case. All my attempts to do so were knocked back by Mrs (Rebekah) Vardy.

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"These leaks from my private Instagram account began in 2017. They continued for almost two years, intruding on my privacy and that of my family.

"Although I bear Mrs Vardy no ill-will, today's judgment makes clear that I was right in what I said in my posts of October 2019.

"Finally, I would like to thank all of my legal team, my family, friends and everyone who supported me, including the public, through this difficult and stressful time."

In her judgment, Mrs Justice Steyn said Coleen's viral "reveal" post was "substantially true" and in the public interest.

She also said Rebekah "knew of, condoned and was actively engaged" in leaks to the media by her agent Caroline Watts.

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The judge found Rebekah "deliberately withheld evidence" during the trial and that the deletion of WhatsApp messages central to the case was "deliberate rather than accidental".

Mrs Justice Steyn also said her evidence was "manifestly inconsistent" with other evidence on "many occasions".

Rebekah was "generally unwilling to make factual concessions" while on the stand, the judgment read.

Mrs Justice Steyn said: "It was evident that Mrs Vardy found the process of giving evidence stressful and, at times, distressing.

"Nevertheless, I find that it is, unfortunately, necessary to treat Mrs Vardy's evidence with very considerable caution.

"There were many occasions when her evidence was manifestly inconsistent with the contemporaneous documentary evidence, e.g. in relation to the World Cup 2018 and the photoshopped pictures, and others where she was evasive."

The judge also pointed out she "frequently abused her status as a trusted follower" of Coleen's private Instagram.

She added: "I also accept that Ms Rooney believed, having given several warnings on her private Instagram account, as well as a public warning, that it was in the public interest to publish the Reveal Post."

Rebekah, 40, will now be forced to cough up and pay her rival's multi-million pound legal costs after the court ruled she had leaked stories to the press.

WAGATHA BOMBSHELL

Triumphant Coleen can celebrate her win with husband Wayne after he flew back from his new job at DC United.

The row erupted back in October 2019 when Coleen, 36, turned detective and accused Rebekah of sharing stories from her personal Instagram account.

In the infamous post, Coleen said she posted a string of false stories via her Instagram account with restricted access to see if they appeared in the media, which they did.

She then said the fake stories had only been viewed by one person, and ended dramatically: “It’s . . . Rebekah Vardy’s account.”

In return, Rebekah declared war and accused Coleen of destroying her reputation as she brought the libel case to court.

The bombshell trial kicked off stunningly in May as Rebekah broke down three times during her disastrous evidence.

She said she was forced to endure "hurtful and upsetting" abuse from trolls after the Wagatha post went viral.

Rebekah also sobbed as she told how her baby was born in December 2019 – just two months after Coleen's post.

Her tears continued as she was accused of lying after she denied setting up paparazzi to take pics of Wags during the 2018 World Cup.

She also became flustered as she was also grilled about tipping journalists off over ex-England player Danny Drinkwater's 2019 drink-drive arrest.

EXPLOSIVE MOMENTS

To add to the mountain of drama, it emerged Rebekah had given the full story to her agent Caroline Watt before demanding: "I want paying for this".

It appeared no one was off limits to Rebekah, who also tried to "do the dirty" and spill the beans on unrest in the Leicester dressing room after Riyad Mahrez went "on strike".

As her time in the witness box unravelled, Rebekah found herself at the centre of some of the most bizarre moments to ever grace the High Court.

She told how she was "distracted" by Gemma Collins "faceplanting" on Dancing on Ice when Ms Watt admitted in texts she'd tipped off the press about Coleen's 2019 car crash in Washington.

Peter Andre's "chipolata" also became the one of the most talked about moments of the trial after comments Rebekah made in a 2004 kiss-and-tell about the singer's manhood.

Rebekah was then left totally lost when Coleen's barrister David Sherborne asked about Miss Watt losing her phone in the North Sea days after she was ordered to turn it over.

The lawyer, who had branded Rebekah an "unreliable witness", said: "We know that Miss Watt's phone is now in Davy Jones' Locker, don't we, Mrs Vardy?"

Mum-of-five Rebekah, who was clearly baffled, then replied: "I'm sorry, I don't know who Davy Jones is."

As people in the room burst out laughing, the judge explained it's an idiom for the bottom of the sea.

WAGS AT WAR

It was then Coleen's turn to take to the stand and get her side of the torrid tale across.

After previously remaining tight-lipped throughout the drama, the mum-of-four tore into Rebekah – branding her rival "an evil, fame-hungry liar".

She also slammed "evil" texts referring to her a "nasty b***h" and a "c***".

Coleen said the foul-mouthed messages between Rebekah and agent Miss Watt were "uncalled for".

She added: "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."

Coleen also dropped another bombshell when she admitted her 14-year marriage to Wayne hasn't always been plain sailing.

The notoriously private Wag candidly opened up about her marriage "crises" as she told how she's endured "quite a few scandals".

Coleen admitted her sting operation was so secret that even Wayne was unaware it was happening.

WAYNE VS JAMIE

After the Wags faced off, it was time for their husbands to wade in – sparking an incredible war of words between the former teammates.

In one of the more sensational claims, Wayne said he was asked to speak to Jamie Vardy about Rebekah back at the 2016 Euros in France.

He said there had been "negative media coverage" and "issues" surrounding Rebekah that were "causing problems and distractions".

But Jamie was quick to rubbish the claims in a hasty statement given outside court.

He said: "Wayne is talking nonsense.

"He must be confused because he never spoke to me about issues concerning Becky's media work at Euro 2016.

"There was nothing to speak about, I know this because I discuss everything with Becky."

For the first time, it was also revealed how the Wagatha affair unfolded as Rebekah appeared to go into damage control just moments after Coleen's infamous post went live.

'LAST RESORT'

The fuming reality star declared "Wow…that's war" with an angry face emoji to agent Caroline Watt.

She also wrote "Jesus Christ I hope she's happy now" after she began getting bombarded with abuse on social media.

The mum-of-fived added: "I can’t just sit back and let her get away with this.

"I'm getting so much abuse, people who I thought were my friends are turning on me Megs is getting s**t at school this is not just a ignore and move on for me x".

Coleen later revealed how Rebekah messaged her after asking: "WTF is this?"

She also admitted in evidence she had "suspicions" that Rebekah's Instagram account was responsible for leaking stories.

Coleen claimed her post was a "last resort" and told the court she was "surprised" by how much it exploded.

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The Wag also revealed she tried three times "in vain" to settle the multi-million pound case before it reached trial.

Coleen said: "I've been silent… I don't want to be here… it's Mrs Vardy who has brought me here".

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