A leading human rights lawyer has called for an investigation into the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to charge the footballer Sam Kerr, calling it an “attack on free speech”.
Geoffrey Robertson KC, the founding head of Doughty Street Chambers and one-time boss of Keir Starmer, said there was no public interest in charging Kerr, especially “at this time when the criminal justice system is in chaos”.
The Australia and Chelsea star Kerr was found not guilty of racially aggravated harassment on Tuesday after calling a Metropolitan police officer “fucking stupid and white”. The comments, made in January 2023, came after officers doubted her claims of being “held hostage” in a taxi.
Robertson said the CPS should launch an investigation into its lawyers who “wrongly authorised this prosecution”.
He said: “The CPS should investigate and consider why it was necessary to bring this case to trial with all the money they expended on it. Especially at a time when the criminal justice system itself is collapsing as a result of many years of underfunding by Conservative governments. Cases of this kind, which involve no public disorder or dismay, should not be brought to court.”
The CPS initially decided against charging Kerr due to insufficient evidence. It went ahead with the charge nearly a year after the incident when a second statement was submitted by PC Stephen Lovell, the officer her comments were aimed at.
In it, Lovell said Kerr’s comments left him “shocked, upset and humiliated”. He had not mentioned being upset at being called “stupid and white” in his first statement.
After the verdict, it was revealed that Kerr’s legal team had attempted to get the case thrown out at a preliminary hearing in January, arguing there had been an abuse of process by crown prosecutors.
Kerr’s lawyer, Grace Forbes, claimed the CPS had violated its own guidance, adding that a “loophole” in the victims’ right of review scheme was used to justify prosecution proceedings a year after the alleged offence. The judge refused Forbes’ attempt.
Robertson said “no one in their right mind” would think Kerr’s comments “justified a prison sentence”.
A CPS spokesperson said: “The Crown Prosecution Service’s function is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a jury to consider. In this case, we decided that there was sufficient evidence and that it was in the public interest to proceed. We respect the jury’s decision.”
