Chelsea star Sam Kerr called police officer 'stupid and white', court told | OneFootball

Chelsea and Australia star Sam Kerr called a police officer 'f**king stupid and white' after smashing a taxi window, a court heard on Monday.

On Tuesday, the second day of the trial, the officer in question, PC Stephen Lovell, denied claiming to have experienced harrassment in order to secure a criminal charge.

The 31-year-old reported to Kingston Crown Court, accused of intentionally causing 'racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress to a police officer' during an incident in January 2023.

While she accepts saying those words, Kerr has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told jurors on Monday that Kerr and her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, called a taxi in the early hours of Monday 30 January 2023 after a night out. The journey did not go well and the driver called police to complain about their behaviour and reported they were trying to smash a window.

Instead of heading to Kerr’s home, the driver took them to Twickenham Police Station, where Kerr allegedly made the comment about officer Stephen Lovell’s ethnicity. As there is no dispute over what the Chelsea forward said, jurors must decide what she meant and how it made the victim feel.

Kerr's lawyer, Grace Forbes, rejects the words used were abusive or insulting and that Kerr and Mewis believed they were being kidnapped by the driver and smashed the back window of the vehicle in an attempt to escape. The driver informed police they were phoned after one of the women had been sick in his car and were refusing to pay damages.

PC Lovell attempted to explain the situation to the women, but he claimed they became verbally abusive. Bodycam footage was played to the court in which Kerr said: "You guys are stupid and white. You guys are f**king stupid and white.

"I'm looking you in the eyes, I'm looking you in the eyes, you guys are f**king stupid, I'm f**king over this s**t."

PC Lovell then arrested Kerr for criminal damage and then racially aggravated public order. Following this, the women agreed they would pay for damage to the driver's vehicle so were de-arrested for criminal damage.

When PC Lovell was called to give evidence on Tuesday, it was put to him by Grace Forbes that his first statement did not mention Kerr's use of the words stupid or white as having an impact on him, which he confirmed was the case.

He denied the subsequent suggestion that it was later added solely for the purpose of securing a criminal charge, later telling prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones, Kerr had made him "belittled and upset". His second statement included feelings of being "shocked, upset and humiliated", taking "great offence" at Kerr's comments about race, which he thought went "too far".

"I didn't make something up to get a charge over the line," PC Lovell told the court.

Kerr is Australia's all-time leading goalscorer, men or women, with 69 international goals to her name. She signed for WSL side Chelsea in January 2020, but has been sidelined since January last year with an ACL injury, which was sustained a week before she was charged via postal charge requisition.