Chelsea footballer Sam Kerr has said police treated her differently “because of the colour of my skin” after an incident in which she claims she and her partner were taken “hostage” by a taxi driver.
The Australia international is on trial charged with causing racially aggravated harassment to Pc Stephen Lovell during an incident in south-west 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 Twickenham Police Station by a taxi driver who complained that they had refused to pay clean-up costs after one of them was sick, and that one of them smashed the vehicle’s rear window.
At the police station, Kerr is alleged to have become “abusive and insulting” towards Pc Lovell, calling him “stupid and white”.
A jury at Kingston Crown Court heard on Wednesday that Kerr had told police “this is a racial f****** thing”. When asked about these comments, Kerr said: “I believed 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.”
When asked about her comments towards Pc Lovell, Kerr responded: “I had had a couple of drinks, mixed with tiredness, being in a scared and distressed state and (being) scared for my life 15 or 20 minutes before.”
She said she regretted the way she expressed herself but added: “I feel the message was still relevant”.
Kerr told the court she believed the taxi driver was “kidnapping” her and Ms Mewis and holding them “hostage”. At the police station, Kerr made reference to Sarah Everard, who was murdered by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens in 2023, telling officers about a “girl in Clapham” who “got raped and killed”.
Pc Lovell is alleged to have said: “Do you think a a taxi driver, who is going to rape and kill you, would take you to a police station?” to which Kerr responded “you’re sick”.
When asked why she said this, she told the court: “I thought he was making light of what had happened to us. I thought it was an antagonising comment”.
When asked about a further comment of “you’re literally a white privileged person”, she responded: “It was clear to me that he had no idea about the power and privilege he had in that moment or in life … he’s never had to think about what could happen to you as a female.”
Footage from Pc Lovell’s bodyworn camera was previously played to jurors, in which Kerr tells him and Pc Samuel Limb that she and Ms Mewis were “very scared” and “trying to escape” the cab when they damaged the vehicle.
Giving evidence earlier on Wednesday, Kerr told the jury she had put her head out of the window when she began to feel sick before the driver “rolled it up” and began to “drive dangerously”.
She said: “He accelerated and began to swerve in and out of lanes … we were getting thrown around.
“I couldn’t hear what he was saying. He was speeding up and stopping.
“Neither of us had our belts on so we stood up and tried to talk to him … it felt like he was going wherever he thought … I was terrified.”
Kerr said the dangerous driving continued for 15 to 20 minutes, adding: “I was terrified for my life.
“Everything was going through my mind about being in a car with a stranger I deemed to be dangerous.
“There was no reasoning with him. It was his way or nothing.
“Kristie asked him to stop the car but there was no change to his driving. We had no idea where we were.
“Kristie was very distressed. She was crying and scared. I’ve never seen her like that before and it made me more scared.
“I started to realise how serious the situation was. It put me in protective mode … he had the power over us.
“We were not in control … I deemed him to be dangerous because of the driving but also because he could have taken us anywhere. He couldn’t be tracked so no one knew where we were.”
Kerr said the pair tried to open the doors and windows multiple times but they remained locked.
Eventually, Ms Mewis “kicked out (the window) with her boot” which resulted in Kerr feeling “relieved”, but she added: “We didn’t get out straight away as the car was still moving.”
Asked by prosecutors if she still believed she and her partner were being “kidnapped”, Kerr said she did.
In a follow-up question, she was asked if she knew police had advised the taxi driver to bring the pair to a police station, to which she responded: “I do now.”
Kerr told the jury she never used black cabs and preferred Uber because she deemed it to be safer and vehicles could be tracked.
Born in Perth, she also made reference to the Australian Claremont serial killer: “I lived in a state where for 30 years there was a serial killer that was thought to have been a taxi driver.
“Everyone was talking about not getting in a taxi.”
Kerr was asked about her upbringing in Australia and experience with racism there and in the UK.
Identifying as a white Anglo-Indian, the Chelsea forward said she had seen her father and brother – who are of Indian descent – treated differently because of the colour of their skin.
Kerr also said she had experienced it first-hand in school, on social media and even in shopping centres, telling the jury: “Sometimes I’ll be followed by a security guard.”
The trial continues.
