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April 23, 2007updated 19 May 2014 2:16pm

Wayne Rooney in £300K libel showdown

By Press Gazette

Everton manager David Moyes is headed for a High Court showdown with Wayne Rooney in a £300,000 row over his autobiography.

Moyes kicked off the legal battle by issuing a writ against Rooney, his co-writer Hunter Davies, and publishers HarperCollins over the book Wayne Rooney – My Life So Far.

And he has followed through with legal documents detailing Rooney's allegations which he claims are defamatory. He is demanding unlimited damages of more than £300,000 for libel.

Moyes is suing over allegations in chapter 14, headed "I Don't Want to Play for you Ever Again", which he says meant he had betrayed Rooney's trust and confidence by leaking sensitive personal information about prostitutes which Rooney had revealed to him in a private conversation.

Rooney's allegations meant that Rooney had been subjected to more distressing and damaging press coverage of the very kind he had complained about, according to a writ issued in London's High Court.

Moyes says the allegations injured his professional and personal reputation, and caused him serious embarrassment and distress.

He is also seeking aggravated damages, saying Rooney's allegations about his integrity and professionalism were published without making any effort to check with him first, which would have revealed that the article referred to in the writ in the Liverpool Echo was not as described in Rooney's book.

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Moyes had denied the allegation at the time in a confrontation with Rooney, and says that this denial was not included in the chapter.

And despite letters of complaint to Rooney. Davies and the publishers on 29 September 2006, they have not apologised, or co-operated in remedying the wrong done, or reducing further damage to his reputation and feelings.

Moyes is seeking damages, and aggravated damages, and an injunction banning them from repeating the words he says are defamatory.

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