Lovell read a section of the statement to the court which said the comments made him “shocked, upset, and (left) me feeling humiliated”. The charge was authorised later in December 2023, nearly a year after the incident.
Sam Kerr arrives at court.Credit: Getty Images
Kerr’s barrister, Grace Forbes, told the court that the CPS had originally found no evidence of harassment or alarm caused by Kerr’s comments, and suggested Lovell’s second statement described their effect “purely to get a criminal charge over the line”.
He was also asked about Kerr’s status as a well-known sports star, with Forbes suggesting: “You made an assumption about her that she was a troublemaker, that she was difficult and, because of what she does for a living, she was an arrogant person?”
Lovell said in response he did not know what Kerr did for a living and was unaware of her profile despite her exploits for the Matilda’s in the 2023 World Cup.
Forbes disputed his denial, saying “you told her very early on, that you knew exactly who she was”. Lovell said he did not recall saying that, but he knew she was a “famous football player” after a colleague had informed him.
During re-examination by prosecutor, Bill Emlyn Jones KC, Lovell told the jury that being called “f—ing stupid” had made him feel “belittled and upset”.
Asked how it felt being called “f—ing stupid and white”, he said “it felt very unnecessary”.
Jones asked if his race had “any relevance as far as you can see to what was going on”, and Lovell said “no” and later added that the reference to him being white “upset me, I guess”.
The prosecutor asked: “Is that correct, PC Lovell, that you just made something up to get a charge over the line?“, and he replied: “No, I didn’t make it up to get a charge over the line.”
Kerr’s alleged racial abuse came after she believed Lovell doubted her claim of being “held hostage” by the driver on the night. Footage from Lovell’s body-worn camera, which was previously played to jurors, showed Kerr telling officers that she and Mewis were “very scared” and “trying to escape” the cab when they damaged the vehicle.
“I apologise for putting them in a situation where they had to stay there for so long and deal with two very angry girls that probably wasn’t gonna (sic) get solved in that moment,” she told police in an interview played to the court.
“I didn’t feel we were being heard… it was very, very threatening. I’ve never been in a situation like that where a taxi driver has locked the door and drove two females around for fifteen, twenty minutes without letting us go and that’s why I felt so angry and so upset.”
The trial, before Justice Peter Lodder, continues.
