Chelsea footballer Sam Kerr has been cleared of racially aggravated harassment in connection with an altercation with an officer outside a police station in Twickenham, southwest of London, on 30 January 2023. The Australian athlete called a Metropolitan Police officer “stupid and white” and later faced charges of causing racially aggravated harassment. Ms Kerr gave a thumbs-up to her legal team as she left Kingston Crown Court with her fiancée, Kristie Mewis.
During the trial, Ms Kerr acknowledged that she regretted the way she expressed herself but claimed that she felt her message had been valid. She added that she didn’t use whiteness as an insult and argued that the officer had been using his power and privilege over Kerr. He was condemning Kerr for something she is not, and she was objecting to that. “I was trying to express that due to the power and privilege they had, they would never have to understand what we had just gone through and the fear we were having for our lives,” she said.
At the trial, it emerged that Ms Kerr’s defense team attempted to have the case thrown out, alleging that Crown prosecutors had abused their discretion. Kerr’s lawyer, Grace Forbes, contended that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had violated its own guidelines, and a loophole in the victims’ right of review scheme was used to justify prosecution proceedings a year after the alleged offense. PC Lovell read a section of the statement speaking about the impact Ms Kerr’s comments had on him, saying they made him “shocked, upset, and (left) me feeling humiliated.”
In a statement, Judge Peter Lodder KC said, “I take the view her own behavior contributed significantly to the bringing of this allegation. I don’t go behind the jury’s verdict, but that has a significant bearing on the question of costs.” Although she acknowledged that she might not have expressed the emotions she was feeling effectively, the outcome indicates that Kerr did not commit a crime by racially harassing Lovell
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