Chelsea striker Sam Kerr told a court on Wednesday that she was treated differently by police “because of the colour of my skin” and that she “feared for her life” during an incident with a taxi driver.
The Australian captain, who is of mixed race, is on trial for allegedly causing racially aggravated harassment to police officer Stephen Lovell following an incident in south-west London in the early hours of 30 January 2023.
Kerr, 31, and her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, had reportedly been out drinking when a taxi driver took them to Twickenham police station.
The driver alleged that the pair had refused to pay clean-up costs after one of them was sick and that one of them had also smashed the vehicle’s rear window.
On Tuesday, the court heard that Kerr had been “abusive and insulting” towards Lovell, allegedly calling him “stupid and white.”
However, giving evidence on Wednesday, Kerr stated: “I believed (officers) 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.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Kerr told the jury that she had put her head out of the taxi window when she began to feel sick, but the driver “rolled it up” and started to “drive dangerously.”
She said the reckless driving lasted 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 he did not change 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.”
Kerr stated that the pair had tried several times to open the doors and windows, but they remained locked.
Mewis eventually “kicked out the window with her boot,” which Kerr described as a “relief.”
However, she added: “We didn’t get out straight away as the car was still moving.”
Kerr made her debut for current Women’s Super League champions Chelsea in 2020. She is currently sidelined with a knee injury.
AFP
