Sam Kerr has been cleared of racially aggravated harassment against PC Stephen Lovell at Twickenham Police Station.
The 31-year-old Australian football star was filmed drunkenly calling PC Lovell ‘f****** stupid and white’ in the early hours of January 30, 2023.
The court heard how Kerr and her now fiancée, Kristie Mewis, who is also a footballer for West Ham and the USA, believed they had been kidnapped by a taxi driver after a night out, culminating in Mewis kicking out the taxi window in a bid to escape the vehicle.
The driver reportedly told police that the two footballers had refused to cover the cost of the clean-up and damages.
At the police station, Kerr was alleged to have become ‘abusive and insulting’ towards PC Lovell.
A jury at Kingston Crown Court took just over four hours to return a unanimous not guilty verdict.
Sam Kerr has been cleared of racially aggravated harassment against PC Stephen Lovell
It took a jury at Kingston Crown court just over three hours to return a unanimous not guilty verdict
Kerr and her fiancée Kristie Mewis (pictured arriving at court on monday)had been in the back of a taxi following a night out in Clapham
Kerr, who was wearing a white zip-up shirt and black trousers, emerged from the dock with a smile on her face, while Mewis broke down in tears.
In a parting statement, Judge Peter Lodder said: ‘Take the view her own behaviour contributed significantly to the bringing of this allegation and has a significant bearing on the question of costs.
‘She herself has to accept by virtue of video recording.’
Kerr, who has not played since rupturing her ACL in January last year, told a court last week that she called a policeman ‘stupid and white’ because he didn’t understand his privilege and treated her differently because of the colour of her skin.
Kerr said PC Lovell failed to listen to her and fiancée Kristie Mewis when they told him they believed a taxi driver had tried to abduct them.
The Australian captain made the comments when the cab driver took them to a police station after she vomited out of his window following a night out.
Kerr said the driver began to ‘drive dangerously’ after she was sick, leaving the pair distressed – and making her think of the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021. They kicked out the rear window in a bid to escape.
The cabbie rang the police and drove to Twickenham Police Station, where he was met by PC Lovell and a colleague, who arrived at the station at the same time in a marked car.
The 31-year-old Australian football star was filmed drunkenly calling PC Lovell ‘f****** stupid and white’ in the early hours of January 30, 2023
Kerr is one of women’s football’s most prolific footballers, captaining Chelsea and playing for the Australian international side (left and right)
Kerr revealed in court that she and fiancée Kristie Mewis were expecting a boy after announcing their pregnancy last November
Kerr told the jury Sarah Everard – the young woman who had been kidnapped, murdered and killed in Clapham in March 2021 – had been ‘prominent’ in her mind, causing her to fear being ‘in the control of a stranger’.
The court heard they had been out for dinner at Amazonico in Mayfair and at a party in Bagatelle. Kerr had been unable to summon an Uber, her preferred means of getting a taxi, prompting them to hail a black cab on Oxford Street.
But after she put her head out of the window when she felt sick, she said the driver ‘rolled it up’ and began to ‘drive dangerously’.
She also revealed in court she and fiancée Kristie Mewis were expecting a boy, having announced their pregnancy in November, and plan to get married at the end of the year.
The trial heard evidence from PC Lovell, who said he had not been aware of who Kerr was at the time he was called to Twickenham Police Station.
He told the trial he felt ‘belittled and upset’ as he was subjected to the alleged rant.
The court heard that the matter had been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service after PC Lovell provided a statement. But it initially concluded there was not enough evidence to formally charge the star.
Kerr would then play for Australia in the Women’s World Cup over the summer of 2023. The country was also hosting the tournament.
Scotland Yard asked the CPS to reopen the case in October. Prosecutors took further statements from the constable and authorised police to charge the star in December 2023.
