Coleen Rooney has jetted off to Dubai with her husband Wayne Rooney after skipping the final day of the Wagatha Christie trial.
The 36-year-old has been locked in a bitter legal battle with Rebekah Vardy at London's High Court after she accused the 40-year-old's Instagram account of leaking stories about her to the tabloids.
Rebekah denies leaking stories to the media and is suing her fellow footballer's wife for libel, while Coleen defends the claim on the basis her post was “substantially true”.
Coleen's legal representatives informed the court that his client and her family had already booked a trip to the United Arab Emirates as they believed the case wouldn't get this far.
The trial, which kicked off last week, came to a close on Thursday, as the women's legal teams made their closing statements to the judge, with the verdict expected to be delivered in a matter of days.
Rebekah arrived at the court today [May 19] wearing a black trouser suit, and green top, while Coleen was nowhere to be seen.
David Sherborne, for Rooney, apologised to the judge for Coleen and her husband Wayne not being present for the closing speeches.
"They had a 'long standing travel arrangement with their four children' which they made with their lawyers' approval thinking the case would end yesterday."
Mrs Justice Steyn said: "That's fine.'' Sherborne said Rooney "did not want to go for a trial" and "nor did her husband."
"She made that clear,'' he said.
"We say what Mrs Rooney said in her post was true. It's what she believes even more so now.''
Sherborne said "Rooney and her family had been put through the 'stress' of a trial and for what? Vardy's case has 'shrunk to almost nothing if not entirely disintegrated'. It is a 'slither of a case'.
"It's simply a case of whether Mrs Vardy, an admitted leaker herself, knew what Ms Watt was doing."
He said he had been left wondering "why on earth this case has been allowed to get this far".
Mr Sherborne said the judge has to rule on two things – whether the post was 'substantially true' and if it was a 'statement of a matter of public interest'.
Sherborne said there had been a "deliberate deletion and destruction' of evidence".
He said the court had also not heard from several key witnesses.
Ms Watt had not given evidence, nor had any of the journalists involved in publishing the leaked stories.
Vardy's husband Jamie had also "remained silent… at least in this courtroom"
He urged the judge to draw the inference that the disappearance of evidence was 'deliberate' and designed to hide Vardy's actions.
Coleen was spotted at Manchester Airport on Thursday [May 19] with hubby Wayne, their four kids – Kai, 12, Klay, 8, Kit, 6, and Cass, 4 – along with Coleen’s parents.
Wearing a black shirt, black trousers and sandals – as well as her foot brace – Coleen looked carefree as she headed inside the airport with her husband, who was pushing the trolley stacked high with silver suitcases.
Fans have suggested Coleen is jetting off on holiday to celebrate her beloved mum’s birthday, to who she paid tribute with a touching post on Instagram on Wednesday.
“Happy Birthday to an extremely special person, My Mum. Have the best time celebrating, I love you so much and appreciate everything you do for me and us all,” she captioned the black-and-white snap of them enjoying cocktails.
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