Chelsea striker Sam Kerr has been declared not guilty of causing racially aggravated harassment, after calling a “stupid and white” metropolitan police officer.
A jury in Kingston Crown Court clarified it in relation to an incident on Twickenham, southwest London, on January 30, 2023.
Mrs. Kerr, 31, said she was “antagonized” by the officers after a taxi driver took her to a police station after a dispute.
The Australian international, who made the comments to the PC Stephen Lovell, did not denied using the “stupid and white” words, but denied that it was equivalent to a racial offensive.
Mrs. Kerr was clear by the jury after she deliberated for four hours.
After the verdict was returned, Mrs. Kerr gave an approval to her legal team before leaving the court with her fiancee Kristie Mewis.
In a statement after the verdict, Mrs. Kerr thanked her followers, family and friends, and said she could now “finally leave this challenging period behind.”
“While I apologize for expressing myself badly in what was a traumatic night, I have always maintained that I did not intend to insult or harm anyone and I am grateful that the jury agreed unanimously.
“I am completely focused on returning to the countryside and I look forward to an exciting year for me and my family.”
The trial heard that Mrs. Kerr and Mrs. Mewis had gone to drink when they were taken to the Twickenham Police Station by a taxi driver who complained that they had refused to pay the cleaning costs after one of them He was sick and that one of them had destroyed the rear window of the vehicle.
After the verdict, Judge Peter Lodder KC said: “He knew that his own behavior contributed significantly to the presentation of this accusation.
“I am not going behind the jury’s verdict, but that has a significant influence on the issue of costs.”
During the trial, Mrs. Kerr said she lamented the way she expressed himself, but added: “I feel that the message was still relevant.”
She denied having used whiteness as an insult and said: “He believed he was using his power and privilege about me because he was accusing me of being something that was not.
“I was trying to express that due to the power and privilege they had, they would never have to understand what we had happened and the fear we were having for our lives.”
Now it can be reported that Mrs. Kerr’s legal team tried to be expelled at a preliminary hearing, arguing that crown prosecutors had been an abuse of process.
Mrs. Kerr’s lawyer, Grace Forbes, said the Crown Prosecutor The prosecution procedures one year after the alleged crime.
During the trial, PC Lovell was put that only provided a statement claiming that Mrs. Kerr’s comments had caused “alarm or harassment” after that decision.
In his first statement to the CPS, the officer did not mention the “stupid and white” comment that had an impact on him, he was told to the jury.
A second statement by PC Lovell was provided in December 2023, mentioning the supposed impact.
He read a section of the statement to the court, which said the comments made him “shocked, annoyed and (left me) feeling humiliated.”
The position was authorized later in December 2023, almost a year after the incident.
