Chelsea footballer Sam Kerr said that the police have treated her differently “because of the color of my skin” after an incident in which she claims that she and her partner were “hostage” by a taxi driver.
The Australia International is on trial accused of causing racially aggravated intimidation for PC Stephen Lovell during an incident in the southwest of London in the early hours of January 30, 2023.
It is claimed that Kerr, 31, and her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, had been drinking when they were driven by a taxi driver to the police station of Twickenham who complained that they had refused to pay clean-up costs after one of them was Sick and that one of them hit the rear window of the vehicle.
At the police station, Kerr is said to have become “offensive and offensive” against PC Lovell and he calls him “stupid and white”.
A jury of Kingston Crown Court heard on Wednesday that Kerr had told the police “This is a racial f ***** Ding”. When asked about these comments, Kerr said: “I believed that they treated me differently because of what they considered the color of my skin – in particular the behavior of PC Lovell.
“The way he accused me of lying and later arrested for criminal damage, although Kristie said it was only she (who hit the window of the taxi).
“At that time I thought they were trying to give it to me.”
To the question of her comments against PC Lovell, Kerr replied: “I had had a few drinks, mixed with fatigue, in a frightened and distressed state and (are) afraid of my life 15 or 20 minutes earlier.”
She said she regretted the way she expressed herself, but added: “I feel that the message was still relevant.”
Kerr told the court that she believed that the taxi driver “kidnapped” her and Mrs. Mewis and kept them “hostage”. At the police station, Kerr referred to Sarah Everard, who was murdered in 2023 by Metropolitan Police Officer Wayne Couzens and told officers about a “girl in Clapham” who was “raped and killed”.
PC Lovell would have said: “Do you think a taxi driver who will rape and kill you would take you to a police station?” To which Kerr replied: “You are sick”.
When asked why she said this, she said to court: “I thought he made light on what had happened to us. I thought it was an antagonating remark.”
When he was asked about a further comment from “you are literally a white privileged person”, she replied, “It was clear to me that he had no idea of power and the privilege that he had at the time or in life. he never had to be thinking about what could happen to you. “
Images of PC Lovell's Bodyworn camera was previously played for jury members, in which Kerr him and PC Samuel Limb says that they and Mrs. Mewis were “very scared” and “tried to escape” when they damaged the vehicle.
Kerr gave evidence earlier on Wednesday and told the jury that she had stopped her head out of the window when she started to feel sick before the driver “rolled it up” and started “dangerously”.
She said: “He accelerated and started waving in and out of lanes … We were thrown around. I couldn't hear what he said. He was accelerated and stopped.
“We had none of our belts, so we got up and tried to talk to him … It felt like he went where he thought everywhere … I was terrified.”
Kerr said that the dangerous driving behavior continued for 15 to 20 minutes and added: “I was terrified of my life. Everything went through my head in a car with a stranger I found as dangerous. There was no reasoning with him. his way or nothing.
“Kristie asked him to stop the car, but there was no change in his driving. We had no idea where we were. Kristie was very sad. She cried and scared. I have never seen her like that and it scared me more .
“I started to realize how serious the situation was. It brought me to the protective mode … He had the power over us.
“We had no control … I considered him dangerous because of driving, but also because he could have taken us somewhere. He could not be followed so that nobody knew where we were.”
Kerr said that the couple tried to open the doors and windows several times, but they kept locked.
Eventually “kicked Mrs. Mewis (the window) with her boot”, which resulted in Kerr with “relieved”, but she added: “We didn't get out immediately because the car was still moving.”
Asked by prosecutors if she still believed that she and her partner were “abducted,” Kerr said she did.
In a follow -up question, she was asked if she knew that the police had advised the taxi driver to take the couple to a police station, to which she answered: “I am doing now.”
Kerr told the jury that she never used black taxis and preferred Uber because they could be considered safer and vehicles could be followed.
Born in Perth, she also referred to the Serial Killer of the Australian Claremont: “I lived in a state where for 30 years it was a serial killer who was thought to be a taxi driver. Everyone was talking about not getting it in a taxi.”
Kerr was asked about her upbringing in Australia and experience with racism there and in the UK.
The Chelsea Forward identified himself as a white Anglo -Indian and said that she had seen her father and brother – who are of Indian descent – otherwise – treated differently because of the color of their skin.
Kerr also said that she had experienced it firsthand at school, on social media and even in shopping centers, and said to the jury: “Sometimes I am followed by a guard.”
The process continues.
Comments