By Sam Tobin
LONDON (Reuters) -Australia women’s soccer captain and Chelsea striker Sam Kerr was on Tuesday found not guilty of racially abusing a British police officer after a dispute with a cab driver.
Kerr, who has Indian ancestry, called officer Stephen Lovell “stupid and white” after a drunken dispute two years ago. She was acquitted by a jury at Kingston Crown Court after her lawyer argued the words were a comment on power and privilege.
“While I apologise for expressing myself poorly on what was a traumatic evening, I have always maintained that I did not intend to insult or harm anyone and I am thankful that the jury unanimously agreed,” the 31-year-old said in a statement.
Kerr, one of the world’s top female strikers, had accepted saying the words but denied the charge of racially aggravated harassment.
She gave evidence that she felt police treated her differently because of the colour of her skin, at a trial that prompted debate both over her future as Australian captain and the decision to charge her.
Australian human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald that the case should not have gone to trial, and Sports Minister Anika Wells told Sky News Australia that Kerr had “Australia behind her”.
NO EMOTION
The Crown Prosecution Service, which authorised the charge, said: “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.”
Kerr showed no emotion as the verdict was delivered after around four hours of deliberation, while her partner Kristie Mewis cried in the public gallery. Kerr gave a thumbs-up to her lawyer Grace Forbes before leaving the dock.
“Following today’s not guilty verdict, I can finally put this challenging period behind me,” she also said in her statement.
Her trial focused on the aftermath of a night out which ended with Kerr and Mewis, who plays for West Ham United, hailing a London black cab to Kerr’s home.
The driver took them to a police station instead, with Kerr giving evidence that the driver began behaving erratically after she felt ill and spat out of the window.
Both Kerr and Mewis said they believed they were being held hostage, with Mewis kicking in the cab’s rear window in a bid to escape shortly before they arrived at the police station.
Lovell gave evidence that he was upset by the remark and denied an allegation by Forbes that he had claimed to be upset simply to secure a criminal charge.
Kerr, Australia’s all-time top scorer with 69 goals, has not played since suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in January 2024.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Sarah Young Christian Radnedge and Ed Osmond)
