Australian football star and Chelsea’s top striker Sam Kerr is currently facing a criminal trial in the UK. The case stems from an alleged incident in early 2023, where she’s accused of racially aggravated harassment of a police officer.
The trial kicked off this week at Thames Crown Court in Kingston and is expected to last about four to five days. Given that it’s been two years since the incident, you might’ve forgotten how this all started.
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered — here’s what’s going down and how it could impact Kerr, both on and off the field:
Why was Sam Kerr arrested?
The incident is believed to have taken place on January 30, 2023, just after Kerr had enjoyed a hat-trick in Chelsea’s FA Cup win over Liverpool.
According to reports, after a night out with her partner, US footballer and West Ham player Kristie Mewis, the pair got into a row over a taxi fare in southwest London.
This led to Kerr allegedly calling a police officer — who is identified as “PC Lovell” in the court documents — a “stupid white bastard”. Media reports later suggested she called him a “stupid white cop”.
On the first day of the trial, the prosecution stated the driver had called the police to complain about their behaviour. The driver claimed the pair had tried to smash the back window of the cab and were refusing to pay the fare or soiling charge after Kerr had vomited.
Instead of driving them to Kerr’s home in Richmond, the driver took them to Twickenham police station, where Kerr told police they had attempted to “call 911” and feared for their safety when the driver changed routes.
Per the testimony heard by the court this week, when the constable approached Kerr, things escalated and Kerr allegedly insulted him, calling him “stupid and white” multiple times.
Lovell later testified the comments left him “shocked, upset, and humiliated”, per the BBC.
Kerr was briefly detained by police on the night of the incident but wasn’t charged until almost a year later, in January 2024.
At the time, the Matildas star was granted unconditional bail and has since pleaded not guilty.
Last month, her trial date was formally set for February 3, 2025.
What is she charged with?
Kerr is facing a charge under the Public Order Act 1986, specifically for allegedly causing harassment, alarm, or distress with abusive or insulting words, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald. The charge here has been described as “racially aggravated”.
While she was originally arrested for criminal damage over the broken window, that charge was dropped when Kerr and Mewis paid for the damage.
If found guilty, Kerr could face anything from a fine to a potential jail sentence of up to two years.
However, her legal team are fighting the charges, on grounds that her comments weren’t racially motivated and that she didn’t intend to cause distress. They’ve attempted to get the charges dismissed entirely, arguing there was an abuse of process due to the long delay between the incident and the charges.
On the first day of the trial, the jury heard Kerr returned to the police station the next day for a voluntary interview. When asked if she thought her words could be perceived as racist, Kerr allegedly responded she was aware “that anything can be perceived as racist, for sure”, per the ABC.
The prosecution added that Kerr said she “wished she had just walked away and gone home”.
Kerr has been out of action since January 2024 since she copped an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during a Women’s Super League leaders’ training camp in Morocco.
She is still under contract with Chelsea after signing an extension in June last year and has committed to the club until the summer of 2026.
In an update late last year, Chelsea FC coach Sonia Bompastor shared that Kerr remains on a modified recovery program.
“I would say Sam we are looking to maybe have back with us February, March, not before that,” Bompastor shared, per news.com.au.
Stay tuned, because it looks like there are plenty of details still coming to light about this high-profile case.
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