Chelsea footballer Sam Kerr has said police handled her differently “because of my skin color” after an incident in which she claims she and her partner were taken “hostage” by a taxi driver.
Australia’s international is in court accused of causing rationally aggravated harassment at PC Stephen Lovell during an incident in Southwest London in the early hours of January 30, 2023.
Allegedi claimed that Kerr, 31, and her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, had been drinking when they headed to the Twicenham police station from a taxi driver who complained that they had refused to pay cleaning costs after one Of them he was ill, and that one of them destroyed the back window of the vehicle.
At the police station, Kerr is suspected to have become “abusive and offensive” towards PC Lovell, calling it “stupid and white”.
A jury in the Crown Court Kingston heard on Wednesday that Kerr had told the police “this is a racial thing f ******”. When asked about these comments, Kerr said: “I believed they were treating me differently because of what they perceived were the color of my skin – especially the behavior of PC Lovell.
“The way he was accusing me of lies, and later arrested me for criminal damage even though Kristie said it was only she (which destroyed the taxi window).
“At that time, I thought they were trying to put it on me.”
When asked about her comments on PC Lovell, Kerr replied, “I had drunk some drinks, mixed with fatigue, being in a scared and anxious state and (being) scared for my life 15 or 20 minutes ago. ”
She said she regretted the way she expressed herself, but added, “I think the message was still important.”
Kerr told the court that she believed that the taxi driver was “kidnaping” her and Mrs. Mewis and was holding “hostage”. At the police station, Kerr referred to Sarah Everrard, who was killed by metropolitan police officer Wayne Couzens in 2023, telling officers about a “girl in Clapham” who “raped and killed”.
PC Lovell is alleged to have said, “Do you think a taxi driver who will rape and kill you will take you to a police station?” To which Kerr replied, “You are sick.”
When asked why he said this, she told the court, “I thought he was doing what had happened to us. I thought it was an antagonizing comment.”
When asked about a further commentary “You are literally a privileged white person”, she replied, “It was clear to me that he had no idea of the power and privilege he had at that moment or in life … he never wanted to think about what can happen to you as a woman. “
PCs from PC Lovell’s Bodyworn camera were previously played for lawyers, in which Kerr tells him and PC Samuel Limb that she and Mrs Mewis were “very scared” and “trying to save” the cabin when they damaged the vehicle.
Giving evidence earlier on Wednesday, Kerr told the jury she had put her head out of the window when she began to feel sick before the driver “wrapped her” and began to “drive”.
She said: “He accelerated and started falling inside and outside the lanes … We were jumping around. I couldn’t hear what he was saying. He was speeding and stopping.
“None of us had our belts, so we stood up and tried to talk to him … felt like he was going wherever he thought … I was terrified.”
Kerr said the dangerous driving continued for 15-20 minutes, adding: “I was terrified for my life. Everything was passing in my mind to be in a car with a stranger I considered dangerous. There was no Reasoning with him.
“Kristie asked him to stop the car, but there was no change in his driving. We had no idea where we were. Kristie was very desperate. She was crying and fearing. I never saw her as before And that made me more scared.
“I began to understand how serious the situation was. He put me in defensive state … He had power over us.
“We were not under control … I considered it dangerous because of the direction, but also because he could take us anywhere. He could not be traced, so no one knew where we were.”
Kerr said the pair tried to open the doors and windows several times, but they remained closed.
Eventually, Mrs. Mewis “started out (window) with her boot” which resulted in the feeling of “eased” Kerr, but she added: “We didn’t leave immediately as the car was still moving.”
Asked by prosecutors if she still believed she and her partner were “kidnaping”, Kerr said she did.
In a subsequent question, she was asked if she knew police had advised the taxi driver to bring the party to a police station to which she replied, “I do now.”
Kerr told the jury that she never used black cabins and preferred Uber because she considered it more secure and vehicles could be traced.
Born in Perth, she also referred to the Australian serial killer Claremont: “I lived in a state where for 30 years there was a serial killer thought to have been a taxi driver. Everyone was talking not to enter a taxi.”
Kerr was asked about her education in Australia and experience with racism there and in the United Kingdom.
Identifying as a white Anglo -Indian, Chelsea ahead said she had seen her father and her brother – who are of Indian origin – treated differently because of the color of their skin.
Kerr also said she had experienced her first -hand at school, social media and even in shopping malls, saying to the jury, “Sometimes I will follow from a security guard.”
The trial continues.
