A Met Police officer has said he was “determined to pursue” the prosecution of Chelsea footballer Sam Kerr after she called him “stupid and white”, a court has heard.
Australia international Kerr is on trial charged with causing racially aggravated harassment to PC Stephen Lovell during an incident in south-west London in the early hours of January 30, 2023.
It is alleged that Kerr, 31, and her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, had been out drinking when they were driven to Twickenham Police Station by a taxi driver who complained that they had refused to pay clean-up costs after one of them was sick, and that one of them smashed the vehicle’s rear window.
The women told officers the driver had been “acting in a crazy way” by driving very fast, repeatedly stopping and speeding up again, locking them in the car, and refusing to let them go for about 15 minutes, Kingston Crown Court heard as the trial continued on Tuesday.
Footage from PC Lovell’s body-worn camera was previously played to jurors, in which Kerr tells PC Lovell and PC Samuel Limb that she and Ms Mewis were “very scared” and “trying to escape” the cab when they damaged the vehicle.
At the police station Kerr is alleged to have become “abusive and insulting” towards PC Lovell, calling him “stupid and white”.
Kerr accepts making the comments but denies that they amount to the charge.
The Crown Prosecution Service originally decided not to charge Kerr, the court heard.
It was put to PC Lovell that he only provided a statement alleging that Ms Kerr’s comments had caused alarm or harassment after that decision.
In his first statement to the CPS, the officer made no mention of the “stupid and white” comment having an impact on him, the jury was told.
Police submitted a request to review the CPS decision not to prosecute, and it responded that the outcome would be limited to an apology, the court heard.
Prosecutors later requested further evidence and a second statement from PC Lovell was provided in December 2023, mentioning the alleged impact.
He read a section of the statement to the court which said the comments made him “shocked, upset, and (left) me feeling humiliated”.
The charge was authorised later in December 2023, nearly a year after the incident.
Grace Forbes, defending Kerr, said during cross-examination: “The only reason you made that statement was because the Crown Prosecution Service had declined to authorise a criminal charge to prosecute Ms Kerr.”
He responded “no” before agreeing that officers were dealing with whether to pursue prosecution in August 2023.
“Throughout July and August 2023, the Women’s World Cup was playing,” the defence lawyer said.
PC Lovell responded: “If you say so, yes.”
Ms Forbes said “Ms Kerr was playing for her country” and “she would have been all over TV – do you recall seeing her?”
The officer denied seeing the striker on TV before the defence barrister said “this person who made you feel unimportant”.
She added: “You were determined to pursue this person, weren’t you?”
PC Lovell said “yes” and Ms Forbes asked “through the criminal courts?”
The officer said “yes” again.
Ms Forbes noted that the CPS had originally found no evidence of harassment or alarm caused by Kerr’s comments, and suggested PC Lovell’s second statement described their effect “purely to get a criminal charge over the line”.
During re-examination by prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC, PC Lovell told the jury that being called “f****** stupid” had made him feel “belittled and upset”.
Asked how it felt being called “f****** stupid and white”, he said “it felt very unnecessary”.
Mr Jones asked if his race had “any relevance as far as you can see to what was going on”, and PC Lovell said “no” and later added that the reference to him being white “upset me, I guess”.
The prosecutor asked: “Is that correct, PC Lovell, that you just made something up to get a charge over the line?”, and he replied: “No, I didn’t make it up to get a charge over the line.”
The trial continues.
