Lost phone at centre of Wagatha Christie trial was dropped in the North Sea during Macduff trip

It was claimed "vital" evidence in the Vardy vs Rooney case may have been lost due to the phone being at the bottom of the North Sea.

By Ellie Milne

October 24 2023, 4:14 pm

Coleen Rooney (left) and Rebekah Vardy during their High Court libel battle. Image: Yui Mok/PA Wire.

The now-infamous mobile phone that went missing in the North Sea during the Wagatha Christie trial was lost in Macduff.

The phone allegedly contained “vital” messages between Rebekah Vardy and her PR agent Caroline Watt which could have proved they leaked stories about Coleen Rooney to The Sun.

However, these messages could not be shared as part of the libel claim because the agent’s phone was at the bottom of the North Sea.

Caroline lost her phone off the north-east coast when she was on a dolphin-spotting trip with ex-footballer husband Steve Watt, who is from Gamrie.

The Vardy vs Rooney case – better known as Wagatha Christie – came about after Rebekah, wife of Leicester City player Jamie Vardy, sued Coleen over the accusation.

However, the court ultimately found Coleen’s statement to be “substantially true”.

Rebekah Vardy leaves the Royal Courts Of Justice in London last year during the Wagatha Christie case. — Rebekah Vardy leaves the Royal Courts Of Justice in London last year. Image: Yui Mok/PA.

Wagatha Christie phone lost in Macduff

The “conveniently” missing phone was a big talking point in the lead up to the trial and described by Judge Mrs Justice Steyn as likely to be “deliberate”.

Now, Steve Watt has revealed it was a “simple accident” during a family boat trip in Macduff.

The former footballer, who previously played for Ross County, has shared a photo with The Sun showing Caroline holding her phone aboard a boat on August 10, 2021.

He told the paper: “It might be convenient for wealthy people to lose £1,000 phones but it certainly wasn’t for us. And it made Caroline even more stressed.

“Caroline and I wish we’d never, ever set foot on that boat. This wasn’t a luxury yacht in Dubai, this was a drizzly day in Aberdeenshire.

“The sea was choppy and Caroline dropped the phone purely by accident.”

Phone key to Vardy vs Rooney case dropped from boat

Steve, who was born in Aberdeen and raised in Gardenstown, said the boat trip was cut short due to the “choppy” weather.

He added: “Caroline was standing, leaning on the railings overlooking the water and concentrating on the horizon to try to stop herself from being ill.

“I was cuddling our daughter behind her.

“In hindsight, if all the sickness hadn’t started, we would still be sitting down and it would never have all happened.”

The agent’s husband went on to explain how a “sudden jolt” caused Caroline to drop the phone over the railing while taking a video of a seal.

Her iCloud was “checked twice” by experts, but Rebekah’s agent ultimately did not appear in court and had her witness statement withdrawn due to health reasons.

The Vardy vs Rooney case is back in the public eye this week following the release of the Disney+ documentary titled Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story.