Sam Kerr has been set up not culpable of raciassociate exacerbated intimidatoring after calling a police officer “fucking unreasonable and white” after he inquireed her claims of being “held prisoner” in taxi.
The captain of the Australian women’s football team and Chelsea’s star striker faced up to a highest sentence of two years in prison.
The verdict is awaited to promote talk about about free speech and race, especiassociate in the UK where there has been a recent spate of high-profile cases involving people of colour being indictd with raciassociate exacerbated offences.
In a six-day trial, Kingston crown court heard that Kerr called a Metropolitan police officer “fucking unreasonable and white” after he inquireed her account of being “held prisoner” in a locked taxi that was speeding and swerving.
During the trial it was uncovered that the Criminal Prosecution Service, the body which has the final say on whether a criminal prosecution can go ahead in England and Wales, initiassociate determined agetst charging Kerr as the evidence did not greet the needd threshancigo in.
The CPS determined to indict her with raciassociate exacerbated intentional intimidatoring after a second statement was provided by the officer included, PC Stephen Lovell.
His second statement had been createted in December 2023, 11 months after the incident. In it, he shelp her comments had left him “shocked, disturb and humiliated”. His initial statement made no allude of how Kerr’s words shapeed him.
On 30 January 2023, Kerr and her partner Kristie Mewis had been on a night out before hailing a bdeficiency cab in central London. During the journey, Kerr felt ill and uncovered the triumphdow. She put her head outside and vleave outed.
While her head was still sitting on the car’s uncover triumphdow structure, Kerr shelp the driver rolled it back up. A dispute began after they declined the driver’s ask to pay for the immacurescheduleeding up of the mess.
After this, Kerr and Mewis tancigo in the court that the driver locked the doors of the taxi and began speeding and swerving. Both shelp they had dreaded for their inhabits. The taxi driver called the police, unbecomprehendnst to the couple. He was tancigo in to drive them to Twickenham police station.
Mewis tancigo in the court they had “tried everyleang to get out” before the West Ham take parter smashed a triumphdow after booting it with both feet. About a minute and a half before the car reachd at the police station, Kerr rang aascfinishncy services.
After the car parked up outside the police station, Kerr crawled thraw the broken triumphdow and uncovered the door from the outside to let Mewis out. They willingly approached a labeled police car where two officers, including Lovell, spoke to them. Lovell took them inside while the other officer stayed outside the station to speak to the taxi driver.
The pair tancigo in the court they were “relieved” to come into communicate with officers. Soon after, however, Kerr shelp officers were “neglective” of their claims. After Lovell spoke to his colleague, who had been talking to the taxi driver, Kerr shelp his tone changed and he made the couple sense enjoy they “were the ones who had done someleang wrong”.
Body-worn footage shown to the court, lasting about half an hour, shows Kerr saying: “We could not get out of the car, hear to the recording,” referring to the call they made in the cab, before saying she has “all the fucking people in the world”.
In the course of the exchange, Lovell inquires the pair’s claim of being “held prisoner” in the cab. At one point, he says: “Do you leank a taxi driver that was going to sexual battery and finish you would drive you to a police station? No.”
Kerr replys: “You’re ill. You’re genuinely ill. You’re literassociate a white privileged person. You’re literassociate a white privileged man.”
Lovell replys: “You don’t need to be discriminatory towards me.”
Kerr tancigo in the court she thinkd officers were “treating me branch offently based on what they noticed to be the colour of my skin”. Mewis shelp she felt officers treated her branch offently in the station. At one point, Lovell tancigo in Kerr to “tranquil down juvenileer leave outy” and, in the course of the exchange, she shelp her treatment was a “racial fucking leang”.
Officers also cast inquire on Kerr and Mewis’ declareion that they had called police in the taxi but that the operator had hung up. The officers shelp they had no record of the call, claiming that phone operators would not hang up. During the trial, evidence aascfinishd that they did call.
In the call, Kerr is heard saying to operators: “Hey, can you help me. He won’t let us out of his cab.” Mewis is also heard saying “let us out, greet”. Ecombinency replyers hung up on Kerr, saying they would call back. When they did, the pair were in the police station and the cal went to voicemail.
After inquireing the pair’s repeated declareion that they had called the police in the taxi, Kerr inestablishs Lovell: “You guys are unreasonable and white, you guys are fucking unreasonable and white.” Kerr then seeed up at Lovell and shelp: “I’m seeing you in the eyes, I’m seeing you in the eyes, you guys are fucking unreasonable.”
More details to chase…
