The British police officer accusing Sam Kerr of racially aggravated harassment has denied claims he amended his statement to help secure a charge.
Kerr’s criminal trial kicked off this week at Thames Crown Court in Kingston, where the court heard she called PC Stephen Lovell “fucking stupid and white” during a confrontation at Twickenham Police Station on January 30, 2023.
Earlier that night, Kerr and her partner, US footballer and West Ham player Kristie Mewis, had hailed a taxi after a night out and got in a row with the driver over the fare.
It was alleged one of the passengers was sick in the vehicle, refused to pay the clean-up fee, and smashed the rear window, leading the driver to take them to the police station rather than Kerr’s home in Richmond.
Per statements made by Lovell, Kerr’s comments made him feel “shocked, upset, and humiliated” and a charge was made almost a year later, in December 2023.
Appearing in court this week, Kerr’s defense team has questioned if Lovell added the detail about how the comments affected him after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) initially decided not to press charges.
The officer made no mention of the “fucking stupid and white” comment having an impact on him in his first statement, the jury was told.
Police submitted a request to review the CPS decision not to prosecute, however they were told the outcome would be limited to an apology.
Later, when prosecutors requested further evidence, Lovell provided a second statement mentioning the alleged impact, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Giving evidence on Tuesday, PC Lovell denied he embellished his statement “purely to get a criminal charge over the line”.
“Is that correct, PC Lovell, that you just made something up to get a charge over the line?” prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC asked, to which he replied: “No, I didn’t make it up to get a charge over the line.”
He was also questioned about how it felt being called “fucking stupid and white”, telling the jury he felt “it was very unnecessary”, per the BBC.
During cross-examination on Tuesday, Kerr’s defence barrister Grace Forbes asked Lovell about Kerr’s status as a well-known athlete.
“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?” she asked, per The Guardian.
Lovell responded that he did not know what Kerr did for a living, which Forbes disputed.
“You told her very early on, that you knew exactly who she was,” she said and Lovell replied he did not recall saying that.
However, he stated he knew she was a “famous football player” after a colleague told him.
Video footage from Sam Kerr’s arrest emerges
Meanwhile, Lovell’s bodycam footage of the incident and police interviews the following day have shed further light on the confrontation.
The court was told Lovell first saw Kerr as she crawled through the smashed taxi window outside the station, with the pair telling officers the driver was “acting in a crazy way”, locked them in the car, and refused to let them go for about 15 mins.
Per the footage, Chelsea striker Kerr “felt ignored” by officers at the station after telling them the driver had left the pair fearing for their life and a “heated” discussion ensued.
“He literally was so dangerous and so scary and he had us both very, very afraid,” she told officers in an interview the next day.
She also conceded she “shouldn’t have been so front-frooted” but she had been feeling “very threatened”, the court heard, as reported by the ABC.
Kerr has acknowledged calling Lovell “stupid and white,” but her legal team argues the comment was made out of frustration and does not meet the legal threshold for harassment.
The trial remains underway and is expected to run for five days.
Lead image: Leon Neal and Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
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