Coleen Rooneys lawyer paid a preferential rate of £295 to stay at Nobu hotel and ran up a £7 minibar bill on two bottles of water, a court heard today as her barrister hit back at claims of extraordinary spending during the Wagatha Christie trial.
Rebekah Vardy sued Mrs Rooney for libel after Mrs Rooney accused her of leaking private information to the press on social media in 2019, but Mrs Justice Steyn ruled in July 2022 that the accusation was substantially true.
In October 2022, the judge ordered Mrs Vardy to pay 90% of Mrs Rooneys legal costs, with their lawyers returning to court in London in a dispute over how much should be paid.
Barristers for Mrs Vardy told the High Court in written submissions that some of Mrs Rooneys legal costs were extraordinary, including money for a lawyer staying at the Nobu Hotel, incurring substantial dinner and drinks charges as well as minibar charges.
But today, Mrs Rooneys barrister, Robin Dunne, said that the comment had been made no doubt to try and argue that the defendant has been profligate in her spending on this litigation and that it gave a misleading and factually inaccurate account.
Coleen Rooneys barrister has hit back at claims of extraordinary spending during the Wagatha Christie trial. Ms Rooney is pictured last night
Barristers for Mrs Vardy (seen outside court in May 2022) told the High Court in written submissions that some of Mrs Rooneys legal costs were excessive
The Nobu Hotel in Londons Portman Square, where Mrs Rooneys lawyer stayed
He said: Yesterday morning, The Sun ran a front-page headline which dealt with minibar charges.
It also was reported around the world, over and over again on Twitter, or X, and the impression given by the claimant, Mrs Vardy, when she spoke to The Sun or her sources, was clearly that this was evidence of the defendant spending wildly and that is what she says was wholly unreasonable.
There are some factual inaccuracies. It is both misleading and factually inaccurate and it is potentially defamatory, and steps are being taken in that respect.
Mr Dunne said that one of Mrs Rooneys solicitors only stayed at the hotel due to a problem with their original booking elsewhere.
He said: (The solicitor) did not book the Nobu Hotel. He booked a modest hotel but on the first night of staying there did not have any working WiFi or shower.
He was offered to stay at the Nobu by the defendants agent, who has a preferential rate.
Mr Dunne said that the food and minibar tab ran up to £225, but said the minibar tab ran to £7, and ran to two bottles of water.
Mr Dunne continued that the solicitor paid £295 per night to stay at the hotel when going rates are more than £600 a night.
Jamie Carpenter KC, for Mrs Vardy, said in response: We do say that the defendants costs are extravagant, but the line-by-line issues are for another occasion.
Coleen and Wayne at the Legends Of Football Awards last night
Rebekah Vardy, seen outside the Royal Courts of Justice in May 2022 with Leicester City striker husband Jamie Vardy
The hearing is dealing with points of principle before a line-by-line assessment of costs, which is due to take place at a later date.
In written submissions, Mr Carpenter said that Mrs Rooneys total claimed legal bill - £1,833,906.89 - was more than three times her agreed costs budget of £540,779.07 and was disproportionate.
He also claimed that Mrs Rooney had previously understated some of her earlier costs, which was improper and unreasonable and amounted to serious misconduct, which involved knowingly misleading Mrs Vardy and the court.
He said that this should lead to a reduction in the amount of money to be paid by Mrs Vardy.
But Mr Dunne said in his written submissions that Mrs Vardy had shown deplorable conduct throughout the case, and added: It sits ill in Mrs Vardys mouth to now claim that Mrs Rooneys costs, a great deal of which were caused directly by her conduct, are unreasonable.
In court yesterday, he said that Mrs Vardys argument smacks, with the best will in the world, of desperation and that the outcome of the court battle was utterly devastating to her.
He said: It is probably the most ill-advised legal action since Oscar Wilde put pen to writ.
Rooneys barrister David Sherborne (pictured) charged total fees over the course of the proceedings of £497,850, the High Court heard yesterday
In the viral social media post in October 2019 at the heart of the libel claim, Mrs Rooney, the wife of former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, said she had carried out a months-long sting operation and accused Mrs Vardy of leaking information about her private life to the press.
Mrs Rooney publicly claimed Mrs Vardys account was the source behind three stories in The Sun newspaper featuring fake details she had posted on her private Instagram profile - her travelling to Mexico for a gender selection procedure, her planning to return to TV and the basement flooding at her home.
After the high-profile trial, Mrs Justice Steyn ruled in Mrs Rooneys favour, finding it was likely that Mrs Vardys agent, Caroline Watt, had passed information to The Sun and that Mrs Vardy, the wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, knew of and condoned this behaviour and had actively engaged.
The hearing before Senior Costs Judge Andrew Gordon-Saker, which neither Mrs Rooney nor Mrs Vardy attended on Tuesday, is expected to conclude on Wednesday.