Sam Kerr trial: Chelsea star denies using ‘whiteness as an insult’ against police

Chelsea's Australian striker Sam Kerr arrives at Kingston Crown Court in south London. Photo / AFP

Chelsea and Australia striker Sam Kerr told a court Thursday she did not use “whiteness as an insult” in a heated exchange with police during which she called one officer “stupid and white”.

Kerr is on trial charged with causing racially aggravated harassment to policeman Stephen Lovell during an incident in London in the early hours of January 30, 2023.

It is alleged that Kerr, 31, and her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, had been out drinking when they were driven to a police station by a taxi driver who complained they had refused to pay clean-up costs after one of them vomited, and one of them smashed the vehicle’s rear window.

At the police station, Kerr, who is mixed race, is alleged to have become “abusive and insulting” towards Lovell, calling him “stupid and white”.

While on trial at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, Kerr was asked by prosecutors if she was using Lovell’s “whiteness as an insult”.

She responded: “No, that’s not what I meant.”

“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,” she said.

Asked if she was saying Lovell was “stupid because he was white”, Kerr said: “No.”

The court heard on Wednesday that Kerr had told police “this is a racial... thing”.

When asked about these comments, Kerr said: “I believed [they] 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.”

She added on Thursday: “[It was] the way he was responding to me, cutting me off, names he was calling me, being dismissive.”

Kerr made her debut for current Women’s Super League champions Chelsea in 2020. She is currently out of action with a knee injury.