Australian Matilda’s star Sam Kerr has been found not guilty of racially aggravated harassment against a London police officer.
The court case pertained to charges relating to an incident that occurred on January 20, 2023 involving a police officer who was responding to a complaint about a taxi far. Kerr had plead not guilty to all charges.
The verdict was delivered by a London jury on Wednesday afternoon (1am, Wednesday AEST).
The Accusation Against Sam Kerr:
Sam Kerr, 31, was charged with causing racially aggravated harassment to police person PC Stephen Lovell during an incident in South West London on 30 January, 2023.
It was alleged the insult “stupid and white” was lobbed when the London police officer was called in to a disagreement over a taxi fare. He alleged Kerr had used the phrase “stupid white bastard” against the officer. PC Stephen Lovell said that he was left feeling “humiliated”, “shocked” and “belittled” by Kerr’s words.
As reported by The Guardian, during the trial the judge asked the jury to consider the implications of Kerr’s words if she had called the officer “stupid and black” and whether her words were designed to cause “harassment, alarm or distress.” A 12 person jury took four hours to determine that Kerr had not made a racially motivated attack.
Sam Kerr’s Defence:
Kerr admitted that she had called the officer “stupid and white” and said that while she had expressed herself “poorly” she was trying to make a point about “power” and “privilege”. Kerr, who has Indian ancestry, said that she believed the officers were treating her unfavourably because of her skin colour on the night of January 30, 2023.
Kerr’s lawyer Grace Forbes noted that Constable Lovell only raised how Kerr’s words made him feel in a second statement submitted 11 months after the original incident took place. Forbes argued he had inflated the impact of Kerr’s words in order to make his case more compelling.
Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Superintendent Clair Kelland said that the matter was fully investigated with evidence presented to the Crown Prosecution Service before the decision was made to charge Kerr. She said: “[officers] perform a challenging job and are often subjected to various forms of abuse as they discharge their duties.”
She added: “A jury has found Kerr not guilty and we respect their verdict.”
What Happened During The Taxi Ride?
The incident on January 30th centred around a taxi ride Sam Kerr took after a late night out on January 30th with her partner Kristie Mewis. Sam Kerr told the jury that after hailing a cab, she was sick out of the window shortly after the ride started.
According to the BBC the driver took the pair to Twickenham police station after Kerr was sick, refused to pay a clean-up fee and smashed the rear window. Kerr, who was crawling through the smashed window when she arrived at the police station said the taxi driver had frightened the women and that they felt they were being taken “hostage.”
The police argued the pair should pay for damage to the taxi window, the fare and cleaning fee while Kerr and Mewis argued they had done nothing wrong. Kerr later transferred the taxi driver 900 pounds ($1,796) for the smashed window.
Body cam footage captured heated words between Sam Kerr and Constable Lovell. At one point he told Kerr “calm yourself down young missy.” At one point Kerr called Lovell “irrelevant” to which he responded “so are you.” As reported by ABC, Constable Lovell admitted under cross examination that he could have handled himself better.
During her police interview, Ms Kerr explained that she could not recall which officer was PC Lovell, but said: “We spoke to three officers and honestly I didn’t feel very helped.
“We were both very scared, very upset and we didn’t feel like we, I guess, were believed on arrival, and were kind of being – not forced – but told ‘just behave, just behave, just behave’.”
She added: “I just want to add how I didn’t feel we were being heard; I’ve never been in a situation like that where the taxi driver has locked the door and [driven] two females around – that’s why I felt so angry and so upset.”
Sam Kerr’s Statement:
Following the trial Sam Kerr took to Instagram to address her fans, many of whom were present during the trial and were in tears when the verdict was delivered.
“Following today’s not guilty verdict, I can finally put this challenging period behind me,” Kerr wrote.
“While I apologise for expressing myself poorly on what was a traumatic evening, I have always maintained that I did not intend to insult or harm anyone and I am thankful that the jury agreed.
“I would like thank my partner Kristie, my family, friends and all the fans for their love and support, especially those who attended court each day.
“I am fully focussed on getting back on to the pitch and looking forward to an exciting year ahead for me and my family.”
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