Chelsea striker Samantha Kerr called police officers ‘stupid and white’ after she vomited in a taxi and smashed its window following a drunken night out, a court heard.
The Australian superstar, 31, abused PC Stephen Lovell after the taxi driver took her directly to Twickenham Police Station in southwest London in the early hours of January 30, 2023.
Kerr claims she and her fiancée, US footballer Kristie Mewis, believed they were being kidnapped by the driver, who refused to let them out after she was sick in the vehicle.
In footage shown to the court of Kerr speaking with police she likened the situation to the 2021 abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard at the hands of Scotland Yard firearms officer Wayne Couzens.
Kerr, who arrived at Kingston Crown Court shortly after 11am dressed in all black, has not played for club or country since rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in January last year.
She was joined at court by her father, Roger, and other family members who had flown from Australia.
Matildas star Sam Kerr arrived at Kingston Crown Court on Monday ahead of her
The court heard that Kerr called police officers ‘stupid and white’ after she and her fiancée smashed a taxi window on a drunken night out
Kerr told police that the driver had refused to take them to her home address so she believed they were being kidnapped
Opening the trial, prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC said the taxi driver was advised to go straight to a police station by a call operator when he phoned 999 to say a woman in his car was trying to smash his back window.
PC Lovell and PC Samuel Limb were outside the station when the taxi arrived at about 2.20am.
They saw smashed glass around the vehicle and noticed Kerr and Mewis, who are now expecting a child together, trying to climb out of the window, Kingston Crown Court heard.
Mr Emlyn Jones said that when the officers tried to explain what the taxi driver had said, the women kept interrupting them and Kerr showed PC Lovell the contents of her bank account on a mobile app to indicate she could easily afford to pay for any damage.
Jurors were shown a 30-minute video of a heated interaction between the footballers and police in which Kerr shouted at PC Lovell: ‘You guys are f***ing stupid and white.’
The comments were overheard by PC Limb and PC Shane Scott, and were caught on bodyworn cameras, jurors heard.
PC Scott described the women as being ‘inebriated, very agitated and emotional,’ the court heard.
In footage played to jurors, Kerr can be heard saying to the officers: ‘I hate to break it to you but when the male is driving the car fast with two women, it’s f***ed. It’s f***ing scary.
Jurors were shown a 30-minute video of a heated interaction between the footballers and police in which Kerr shouted at PC Lovell
The Matildas striker denies racially aggravated abuse of a police officer, with the trial set to continue
‘You are acting like we are lying.’
Referencing Ms Everard’s murder, she added: ‘Look what happened last year when a girl accepted a police officer’s help and got raped and murdered.
‘One of your people killed and raped a female last year in Clapham 20 minutes from here.’
PC Lovell tells the women that if he was trapped in someone’s car he would call the police, to which Kerr responds: ‘But you are a man so you don’t understand.’
Kerr also says she will ‘get the f***ing Chelsea lawyers on this.
’PC Lovell then tells the Chelsea forward: ‘I do understand. I have listened to you a lot, because I have no choice because you are a very loud person.’
The officer then arrested Kerr on suspicion of criminal damage and racially aggravated abuse once she makes the comments referencing his skin colour.
Shortly afterwards, the footballers agree to pay to have the taxi repaired and Kerr, who has twice won the WSL Golden Boot award, was de-arrested. She returned to the police station that evening and told officers she had not intended to cause PC Lovell any distress with her comments, which had been made during a ‘heated moment.’
Kerr signed for Chelsea in 2019 and played a pivotal role in four WSL triumphs, as well as three FA Cup and two League Cup victories with the Blues
She and her fiancee Kristie Mewis revealed last year that they were expecting a baby
Giving evidence to the jury, PC Lovell told the court that when Kerr showed him her bank account he felt she was trying to ‘belittle’ him, and that when she referred to him as ‘stupid and white’ he was ‘upset.’
Mr Emlyn Jones told jurors: ‘It’s not so much what she said but what she meant by the abuse.
‘What did she mean, what was her intent?
‘And secondly, how did it make PC Lovell feel at the time?’
He said that Kerr identifies as being white Anglo-Indian, which was relevant to the charge.
‘Ms Kerr’s comments towards PC Lovell left him feeling shocked, upset and humiliated, the prosecutor said.
‘He took great offence to the comments Ms Kerr made about his race. You may think that his being a white man really had nothing to do with anything.’
Kerr’s barrister, Grace Forbes, told the court: ‘Nobody disputes that these words were said.
‘But simply saying words, even words like these, does not make you guilty of a criminal offence.
‘Did she say them with the intention of causing harassment, alarm or distress to an officer?
‘Or might there be something else behind the words? When you look past the headline and hear further evidence you will see that Samantha Kerr didn’t feel hostile towards this officer because he was white.
‘It was about positions of power, of privilege and about how those things might colour perception.’
Kerr, who arrived at Kingston Crown Court shortly after 11am dressed in all black, has not played for club or country since rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in January 2024
The Australian international signed for Chelsea in 2019 and played a pivotal role in four WSL triumphs, as well as three FA Cup and two League Cup victories with the Blues.
Her manager, Sonia Bompastor, said in December that she is expecting the striker to return in February or March.
The Matildas captain is the all-time leading goal scorer for her country, netting 69 goals in 128 appearances.
The trial continues.
