Sam Kerr felt police treatment was different due to her skin colour, court hears

Australian soccer star Sam Kerr told a London court that she called a police officer "stupid and white" because she felt that as a person in a position of power, the officer was treating her differently because of her skin color. However, she also stated that she did not intend to harass the officer.

In a subsequent intense cross-examination, the prosecutor questioned her memory of the evening's events with the police and the earlier taxi ride, alleging that she was "causing trouble" due to being intoxicated.

Ms. Kerr testified for the first time in the high-profile trial, facing a charge of racially aggravated harassment against London Metropolitan Police officer Stephen Lovell. The charge stems from an alleged dispute over taxi fares in London in 2023. She pleaded not guilty to the charge last year.

In testimony provided Wednesday at Kingston Crown Court on the River Thames, Kerr stated that she felt "very scared" during the taxi ride and claimed that she and her partner, Kristie Mewis, were being "illegally detained." Kerr is the captain of the Australian national women's soccer team (the Matildas) and a forward for the Chelsea Football Club in the English Women's Super League.

During nearly four hours of testimony, Kerr was questioned about the language she used towards Officer Lovell and two other officers at the Twickenham police station, which was captured on police body cameras. The 30-minute interaction was described by Kerr as a "heated argument," primarily revolving around the taxi ride and who would pay for the damaged window. Kerr allegedly refused to pay a cleaning fee after vomiting in the vehicle, but she denied this in court.

The taxi driver subsequently called the police, who advised him to take the two women to the nearest police station—a fact Kerr said she was unaware of at the time. In the video, both Kerr and Mewis told the police that they had repeatedly asked to be let out of the taxi, but the driver would not allow it. Both claimed they were being illegally detained and feared for their lives. Mewis stated that she broke the window out of fear, after which Kerr climbed out of the vehicle. They also told police they had called the police themselves, but the call was disconnected, to which Officer Lovell responded, "They wouldn't do that, would they."

Kerr then called Officer Lovell a "f***ing stupid white cop." Kerr's lawyer, Grace Forbes, asked her, "What were you trying to convey with that phrase?" Kerr responded, "I was saying it badly in the video. What I was trying to convey was that I felt like they were treating me differently, not believing me, and that I was being painted as someone who had done something wrong because they held the power and I believed they were treating me differently because of my race."

Kerr also stated, "I think it's very dangerous if people in positions of authority or privilege don't understand or recognize that, and I think it happens all over the world, and I've experienced it many times." On Wednesday, the jury heard a recording of Kerr's call to the police. The recording confirmed that the police operator disconnected the call and attempted to call back, but was unsuccessful. In the body camera footage, Officer Lovell can be heard questioning Kerr as to why a taxi driver would bring people he intended to "rape and murder" to a police station, to which Kerr responded, "You're sick, you're actually sick."

Kerr told the court, "I thought he was trivializing what we had been through, it was almost a confrontational comment." Forbes said, "Following the exchange with Officer Lovell, you said, 'You're just being a f***ing white privileged person.'" She asked her client, "Why did you use the term 'white privilege' there?" Kerr responded, "It was obvious that he had no understanding of the privilege he has in that moment or in life. He has never experienced, and [doesn't] have to consider, what might happen to you as a woman." When asked if she harbored any animosity towards white people, she said, "No, absolutely not." She described herself to the court as "white-Anglo-Indian" and stated that she had felt she had been treated differently because of her skin color on numerous occasions.

"At school, I experienced teachers always thinking I was the one causing trouble or starting things, when we were in a large group," she said. "And also in shopping centers, if I was dressed scruffily, I was often followed by security guards or staff." Forbes asked her client if there were any experiences in Australia that made her wary of hailing taxis. "I lived in a state [Western Australia] where there had been a serial killer who was believed to be a taxi driver for 30 years, and everyone talked about not getting in taxis," she replied. This case, known as the "Claremont serial killings," was solved in 2020, but the perpetrator was not a taxi driver.

Later on Wednesday, local time, prosecutor William Emlyn Jones began cross-examining Kerr, questioning her recollection of the events of that night. "When you left the club, tried to get an Uber, and then hailed a taxi, Ms. Kerr, it's fair to say you were drunk," Emlyn Jones said. "Yes," she replied. "You were so drunk that you vomited," he said. "Yes," she agreed.

He questioned whether the new information shared during the trial had made her rethink what happened that night. "You now know that he took you to the police station because the police advised him to take you to the police station," he said. "What you know now is different from what you knew then." He asked if this new information made her reflect on "maybe we got it wrong at the time." She said "no." "Your impression is that a drunk person got it wrong," he said, to which she disagreed.

She denied remembering anything about the driver and rejected his suggestion that she must have had a conversation with the driver about her vomiting in the car. Both Officer Lovell and the driver stated that the plastic partition between the passenger and driver areas was damaged. Kerr also denied this. "What happened in the taxi that caused your driver to call the police and then follow their advice?" he asked.

When the prosecutor asked about how good her memory of the night was, Kerr replied "very good." "When you were asked in the [voluntary police] interview whether you remembered calling Officer Lovell a 'f***ing stupid white cop,' you had no recollection," he said. "If you don't remember that, then it's fair to say you don't remember a lot about that night," he added. "It was a very traumatic night for me, I didn't write down a verbatim account," Kerr replied. He described Kerr's memory of the event two years later as "miraculous." Kerr's cross-examination is expected to continue when the trial resumes on Thursday.