Chelsea star Sam Kerr cleared of racially aggravated harassment

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The Independent

·11 de febrero de 2025

Chelsea star Sam Kerr cleared of racially aggravated harassment

Chelsea star Sam Kerr has been cleared of causing racially aggravated harassment following a trial over calling a Metropolitan Police officer "stupid and white".

The Australian striker directed the remark at Pc Stephen Lovell during an incident in the early hours of 30 January, 2023 in south-west London.

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Ms Kerr, 31, and her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, had been out out drinking before a taxi driver drove them to Twickenham Police Station after complaining that the couple refused to cover costs to clean up the vehicle after one of them was sick and the vehicle's rear window had been smashed by one of them.

At the police station, Ms Kerr became "abusive and insulting" towards Pc Lovell, calling him "f****** stupid and white".

After approximately four hours and 17 minutes, a jury returned a not guilty verdict at Kingston Crown Court.

While judge Peter Lodder KC said afterwards: "I take the view her own behaviour contributed significantly to the bringing of this allegation.

"I don't go behind the jury's verdict but that has a significant bearing on the question of costs."

Ms Kerr, who has been out for her club and country since January 2024 with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament injury, showed no emotion during the reading of the verdict but gave a thumbs up to her barrister Grace Forbes after the judge had left.

During the trial, the court heard how Ms Kerr had accepted later calling Pc Lovell "stupid and white" during a heated exchange but denied that it amounted to the charge.

She said she regretted the way she expressed herself but added: "I feel the message was still relevant".

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She denied using "whiteness as an insult" and claimed: "I believed it was him using his power and privilege over me because he was accusing me of being something I'm not... I was trying to express that due to the power and privilege they had, they would never have to understand what we had just gone through and the fear we were having for our lives."

Asked if she was saying Pc Lovell was "stupid because he was white", Ms Kerr said: "No".

Ms Kerr and her partner Ms Mewis told the court how they felt "dismissed" by Pc Lovell after explaining how they had been "trapped" in the back of a taxi and "held against our will".

Ms Mewis smashed the taxi's rear window before the pair climbed out of the vehicle, which was parked near Twickenham Police Station.

At the station, Ms Kerr, her partner and Pc Lovell got into an exchange, described in court as a "heated argument", and Ms Kerr told police "this is a racial f****** thing".

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Chelsea and Australia striker Sam Kerr arrives wither partner and fellow footballer Kristie Mewis at Kingston Crown Court (PA Wire)

She told the jury: "I believed were treating me differently because of what they perceived to be the colour of my skin - particularly Pc Lovell's behaviour.

"The way he was accusing me of lying, and later arresting me for criminal damage even though Kristie said it was just her (who smashed the taxi's window).

"At the time, I thought they were trying to put it on me."

The Crown Prosecution Service originally decided not to charge Ms Kerr, the court heard.

It can now be reported that Ms Kerr's legal team attempted to get the case thrown out at a preliminary hearing, arguing there had been an abuse of process by crown prosecutors.

Speaking during the hearing on January 14, Ms Kerr's lawyer Grace Forbes said the CPS had violated its own guidance, adding that a "loophole" in the victims' right of review scheme was used to justify prosecution proceedings a year after the alleged offence.

During the trial, it was put to Pc Lovell that he only provided a statement alleging that Ms Kerr's comments had caused alarm or harassment after that decision.

In his first statement to the CPS, the officer made no mention of the "stupid and white" comment having an impact on him, the jury was told.

Police submitted a request to review the CPS decision not to prosecute, and it responded that the outcome would be limited to an apology, the court heard.