Sam Kerr‘s defence barrister has slammed the UK police’s treatment of the Matildas star as “utterly indefensible” during closing remarks at Kingston Crown Court.
The jury has now retired to consider their verdict in the trial of the 31-year-old Australian soccer icon, who is charged with racially aggravated harassment of a police officer.
The incident in question occurred in the early hours of January 30 2023, when Kerr allegedly called PC Stephen Lovell “fucking stupid and white” at Twickenham Police Station. This followed a dispute with a taxi driver after a night out in Clapham, where Kerr had vomited out of the cab window, leading to an argument over clean-up costs.
In her closing argument, defence barrister Grace Forbes questioned why the first 20 minutes of Kerr and her fiancée Kristie Mewis‘ encounter with police weren’t captured on camera.
“Two individuals went straight up to a marked police car looking for help in a state of distress. How and why did we go from that to what was an utterly unproductive, heated, argument,” Forbes asked the court, per Daily Mail.
Forbes argued that the police had failed to take seriously the claims made by Kerr and Mewis that the taxi driver had driven erratically and held them “hostage”.
She pointed out that “PC Lovell conceded in evidence that their allegations were capable of amounting to dangerous driving and false imprisonment. Why did he say on the night what she had told him didn’t amount to any offences?”
The defence also highlighted the lack of thorough investigation into the taxi incident. “No one has ever bothered to take a witness statement from Kristie Mewis. No wonder the police have never heard from the driver again,” Forbes told the court.
While acknowledging that Kerr “did not cover herself in glory in the way she expressed herself that night”, Forbes emphasised that “if you are drunk you can still be the victim of crime”.
She suggested that Kerr’s frustration stemmed from feeling unfairly perceived by police, echoing past experiences of racism directed at her father.
“[Kerr] felt she was unfairly perceived by the police as a troublemaker, it echoed experiences she had had in the past, things she had witnessed from a young age directed at her father,” said Forbes.
The defence also cast doubt on PC Lovell’s claims of distress, noting that he had not included this in his original statement and only added it 11 months later. Forbes argued that his response was “more about who she is than what she said”.
As for now, we just have to wait and see as the jury has been sent to consider its verdict.
Lead image: AP News
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