Rooney nets €145,000 damages over slap claims

MANCHESTER United and England footballer Wayne Rooney yesterday accepted £100,000 (€145,000) damages from the publishers of The Sun and the News of the World after the two newspapers falsely alleged he slapped his fiancee, Coleen McLoughlin.

Ronald Thwaites QC, for Rooney, told the court in Britain that The Sun had published a front page article on April 12, 2005, with the headline “Crazed Rooney Thumps Coleen”. The article continued on pages four and five with the headline “You Brute”, he said.

“It alleged that he slapped her across the face, that he lashed out, that he was sniping at Coleen, that Coleen fled the nightclub, that he was calmed down and restrained by team mates.”