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PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2025 7:45 pm 
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('Kicked off' - see what I did there? :lol: :oops: )


A couple of different version of this court case. It's one of those which is all over the press, but with several different versions, each containing illuminating wee nuggets.

First one is interesting in that she's playing the victim in the taxi because the driver is male...

But not clear from the first article about what might have happened to the driver, and in particular the claim that they smashed his window. But that's dealt with in the second piece - in effect, they've admitted to the criminal damage, which of course undermines their initial claim that they smashed it because they feared the driver [-(

But nothing to suggest any consequences for the driver over locking them in and taking them to the police station over the sickie fee. (Contrast the recent case in Amersham - wonder if they found the driver there? :-o )

But, unfortunately for them, the way they kicked off at the police station effectively destroyed any case they had :D

So in effect the taxi angle is irrelevant, and it's more about the alleged racism directed towards the police officer. But, of course that's still instructive from a possible taxi driver angle.

Anyway, will be interesting to see how it all develops...


Chelsea striker broke taxi window ‘after driver refused to let her out’

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/chelsea-strik ... 02788.html

Chelsea striker Samantha Kerr told Metropolitan police officers she and her footballer partner broke the rear window of a taxi because they felt “trapped and very scared” after the driver refused to let them out, a jury has heard.

The Australian football star, 31, is on trial charged with causing racially aggravated harassment to Metropolitan Police officer Stephen Lovell during an incident in south-west London, in the early hours of January 30 2023.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC told a Kingston Crown Court jury that Kerr and her partner, fellow footballer Kristie Mewis, had been out drinking when they were driven to Twickenham Police Station by a taxi driver who complained the passengers refused to pay clean-up costs after one of them was sick and that one of them had smashed the vehicle’s rear window.

At the police station, Kerr is alleged to have become “abusive and insulting” towards Pc Stephen Lovell, calling him “stupid and white”.

Footage from Pc Lovell’s body worn camera was 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.

She can be heard saying: “I hate to break it to you, but when a male is driving a f***ing car, for us, for two women, it’s f***ed, it’s f***ing scary.”

In the footage, both Kerr and Ms Mewis appear intoxicated and distressed, with Ms Mewis visibly crying.

Kerr can also be heard telling the two police officers: “This taxi driver held me and her hostage for about 15 minutes.

“I was like, ‘Please, let us out and I will pay whatever you want’.

“We were begging to get out of there. We were trying to escape – we were trapped.

“You have to understand the emergency that both of us felt. What do you expect us to do as women in that situation?”

In the footage, both footballers also accuse the officers of believing the taxi driver’s version of events over their own.

PC Lovell, who gave evidence on Monday, told the jury that Kerr’s comments that he was “stupid and white” made him feel “upset”.

He is to be cross-examined by Kerr’s defence lawyer Grace Forbes when the trial resumes on Tuesday.



Sam Kerr called police officer ‘stupid and white’ after damaging taxi

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... sea-women/

Chelsea striker has pleaded not guilty to charge of causing ‘racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress to a police officer

Chelsea striker Sam Kerr called a police officer “f------ stupid and white” after smashing a taxi window during a drunken night out, a trial has heard.

Kerr is accused of intentionally causing “racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress to a police officer” in January 2023. She has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told jurors at Kingston Crown Court that Kerr had ordered a black taxi cab after a night out with her partner, United States international Kristie Mewis.

Emlyn Jones said the driver phoned the police to complain about the pair’s behaviour, reporting that they were trying to smash his back window.

Instead of taking them to Kerr’s home address, the driver took them to Twickenham Police Station, where she allegedly insulted PC Stephen Lovell.

Bodycam footage was played to the court in which Kerr could be heard to have said: “You guys are stupid and white. You guys are f------ stupid and white.

“I’m looking you in the eyes, I’m looking you in the eyes, you guys are f------ stupid, I’m f------ over this s---.”

Kerr does not dispute the words that were used but rejects that they were abusive or insulting within the terms of the offence.

The Australian told police that she and Mewis believed they were being kidnapped by the driver and so smashed the back window of the taxi in an attempt to escape.

The driver told police he had phoned them after one of the women had been sick in the back of his car and were refusing to pay for the damage.

When PC Lovell tried to explain the situation to Kerr and Mewis, he claimed they became verbally abusive. He also commented that both women were heavily intoxicated.

PC Lovell said he tried a number of times to explain to them what the driver had said but they kept interrupting him.

He then said that Kerr used her phone to show him the content of her bank account as if to say she could easily afford to pay for any damage if she wanted to.

The court then heard how Kerr said the officers were “f------ stupid and white”.

PC Lovell then arrested her for criminal damage and then racially aggravated public order.

After this Kerr and Mewis agreed they would pay for damage so were de-arrested for criminal damage.

Kerr, 31, is Australia’s all-time leading goalscorer with 69 goals. The alleged incident took place in Twickenham, south-west London, on January 30, 2023, a day after Kerr had scored a hat-trick in Chelsea’s FA Cup victory over Liverpool.

The striker, who has scored 99 goals in 128 appearances for Chelsea, has not played in over a year after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in January 2024.

She sustained the injury a week before she was charged via postal charge requisition.

Kerr, who wore all black as she stood in the dock, was supported at court by her father, Roger, mother, Roxanne, and brother, Levi.

The trial continues.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2025 8:36 pm 
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Quote:
But nothing to suggest any consequences for the driver over locking them in and taking them to the police station over the sickie fee.

I note that she agreed to pay for the damage, and was dearrested for that matter.

I suspect she was given a conditional caution i.e. pay the damage and the matter ends there.

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2025 1:57 am 
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The Daily Mail's narrative is a bit more detailed, for what it's worth.

Nothing particularly new, but bit that stood out for me was when she said that because they were two women then the should be believed over the driver :-o

Sounds about right...


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... hears.html

The driver complained the passengers refused to pay clean-up costs after one of them vomited in the car and that they smashed the vehicle's rear window.

Ms Kerr is alleged to have become 'abusive and insulting' towards PC Stephen Lovell when at the station.

Footage from PC Lovell's body-worn camera was played to a jury sitting at Kingston Crown Court on Monday, in which Kerr tells PC Lovell: 'Honestly, you guys are f***ing stupid and white.'

The video starts with Kerr arguing with PC Lovell over a phone call with the police.

Kerr said the police 'hung up on us', leading PC Lovell to respond 'they wouldn't do that'.

At this point Kerr makes the outburst calling the officer 'stupid and white'.

The officer then arrests Kerr on suspicion of criminal damage and racially aggravated public order.

He said that arrest came after 'the comments you just said'.

She also reference Sarah Everard's murder, telling the officer: 'Look at what happened last year when a girl accepted a police officer’s help in Clapham and got raped and killed.'

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC told the jury: 'The defendant's comments towards PC Lovell left him shocked, upset and humiliated.

'He took offence to the comments that Ms Kerr made about his race because you may think that his being a white man really had nothing to do with anything.'

The prosecutor added: 'Ms Kerr denied that she intended to cause PC Lovell harassment, alarm or distress.

'She said: "I was just very angry at how I felt."

'She described the entire situation as distressing and "a heated moment".

'Ms Kerr said that both herself and Ms Mewis were crying at the time.'

Ms Kerr, of Richmond, pleaded not guilty to the offence at Kingston Upon Thames Crown Court on March 4, 2024.

Grace Forbes, defending the footballer, told jurors on Monday: 'Nobody disputes the words that were said.

'But simple words, even words like these, do not make you guilty of a criminal offence.'

'The words were a comment, however poorly expressed, about positions of power, about privilege and how those things might colour perception.

'Sam Kerr did not feel hostile towards this officer, because he is white.

'You will hear from Sam Kerr in due course. You will also hear a little about who she is, from those that know her best.

'Keep an open mind, all the way through. Don't form a fixed view until you have heard all the evidence.'

Kerr and Ms Mewis had been drinking on the night of January 29, 2023, when they decided to take a taxi home in the early hours of the next day, the prosecution told.

The taxi driver later called the police to complain that a woman inside his taxi was trying to smash the rear window.

The operator advised the driver to pull up outside Twickenham police station and to seek the assistance of police officers there.

PC Lovell and a fellow officer were in a marked police vehicle driving towards the station and arrived at about 2.20am - roughly the same time as the taxi.

Mr Emlyn Jones said: 'They noticed smashed glass in the road and saw that a taxi was parked outside the police station.

'The driver of the taxi sounded his horn to alert the officers and then pulled his taxi to a stop behind their vehicle.

'The officers saw Ms Kerr crawling out of the broken rear window of the taxi.'

Ms Kerr and Ms Mewis approached the police car, both in a 'distressed state'.

The prosecution continued: 'Inside the police station, Ms Kerr explained that the taxi driver had collected them but then refused to take them to Ms Kerr's address.

'They felt that the taxi driver was kidnapping them and so they broke the rear window in order to escape and raise the alarm.'

PC Lovell went back outside to inspect the damage to the taxi.

He saw that not only was the rear window smashed but that the piece of plastic that separates the driver in the front from the passengers in the rear had also been damaged.

The taxi driver explained to an officer that one of his passengers had been sick in the rear.

Mr Emlyn Jones continued: 'He had asked them to pay for the cost of cleaning it up and they refused.

'It was at that point that he had called the police.'

Jurors were shown half an hour of police body worn footage from PC Stephen Lovell.

Kerr can be heard on the body-worn footage saying: 'You guys are f***ing stupid if you believe him over two women.

'Look at what happened last year when a girl accepted a police officer's help in Clapham and got raped and killed.

'Both of us are very scared.

'We had been driving round in his car for 20 minutes, we rang 911, we were very scared, we spoke to someone, we were trying to speak to someone.

'He kept stopping and speeding up, stopping and speeding up, one of your people killed and raped a female last year in Clapham, 20 minutes from here.'

Sarah Everard was kidnapped by Wayne Couzens in Clapham on 3 March, 2021, and later murdered by the Met Police officer.

Kerr could also be heard saying on the footage: 'That is f***ing bullshit, he is a f***ing liar.

'Why are you listening to him over us two? This stupid c**t would not let us go.'


On the night of the incident, PC Lovell went back into the police station to speak to Ms Kerr and Ms Mewis about the taxi driver's account.

Mr Emlyn Jones continued: 'PC Lovell tried a number of times to explain to Ms Kerr and Ms Mewis what the taxi driver had said but they would not let him speak and kept interrupting him every time he tried.

'The defendant used her mobile telephone to show PC Lovell the contents of her bank account as if to say, "look, I could easily afford to pay for any damage to the taxi" if she wanted to.'

'PC Lovell felt that Ms Kerr was showing off her wealth and he felt somewhat belittled.'

The Chelsea star can be heard on body camera footage claiming she had tried to call the police herself when in the taxi but they had hung up on her.

When PC Lovell replied 'they wouldn't do that', Ms Kerr said 'oh my God... honestly, you guys are f***ing stupid and white' and then again, 'you guys are f***ing stupid and white'.

Ms Kerr then looked up at PC Lovell and said: 'I'm looking you in the eyes, I'm looking you in the eyes, you guys are f***ing stupid, I'm f***ing over this s***'

The five-day trial continues tomorrow.

Scotland Yard previously said: 'Samantha Kerr of Richmond was charged on 21 January with a racially aggravated offence under Section 4A Public Order Act 1986.

'The charge relates to an incident involving a police officer who was responding to a complaint involving a taxi fare on 30 January 2023 in Twickenham.'


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2025 2:01 am 
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Even the Guardian's piece doesn't do her much favours - on the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if the Guardian did think this was doing her a favour :-o

Maybe consistent with that is that the Guardian doesn't censor f- and c-words etc (while this site does), so if you want to read it in its unexpurgated glory, click on the link below.

Her description of the taxi driver in relation to the broken window isn't particularly flattering :roll:


https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... xi-dispute

PC Stephen Lovell and PC Samuel Limb were in a marked police vehicle driving towards the station and arrived at the same time as the taxi, about 2.20am.

They saw broken glass on the road and a taxi parked up as they approached the station. The taxi driver honked his horn to alert the approaching officers.

Kerr allegedly climbed out of the broken taxi window before she and Mewis approached the police car. They were taken inside the station while the taxi driver was kept outside.

Inside the station, Kerr told Lovell that she thought the pair were being kidnapped before calling the officer “[edited by admin] stupid and white”.

Speaking to the court, Lovell recalled the events of the night. Upon inspection of the taxi, he said “the bit of plastic that separates the passenger and driver’s seat” looked as if it had been kicked.

After taking the pair inside the station, he said he “kept getting interrupted” and called Kerr “quite abusive”. He explained to them that they must pay the taxi driver for the damage they caused to his cab. In response, Lovell said Kerr “showed me her bank account on her phone”.

In body-worn camera footage showing the pair visibly intoxicated inside the police station, Kerr claimed the taxi driver was “holding us against our will” and that the pair were being “held hostage in that cab”.

Kerr said the taxi driver had been driving around for 20 minutes and “kept stopping and speeding up, stopping and speeding up”. Lovell said what the taxi driver had done, based on their words, did not constitute any offence.

The pair claimed they had called the police while in the taxi, and Kerr repeatedly told Lovell to “listen to the recording” but officers said they had no record of the call. Kerr said neither she or her girlfriend, who is American, are from the UK, “so we don’t know the police number”.

Kerr claimed they had got through to the police but the operator hung up. She continued to say she would not pay for the damage caused to the taxi, saying: “I’m not paying for some [edited by admin] dodgy [edited by admin]’s [edited by admin] window.”

Kerr said: “This is a racial [edited by admin] thing. You are believing that guy out the front over £50. Listen to the [edited by admin] recording, this stupid [edited by admin] wouldn’t let us go.”

She also accused the police of believing the taxi driver over “two women” and made multiple references to Sarah Everard, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a Metropolitan police officer.

Kerr told Lovell to “put your shoes in a female’s shoes. We were trapped for 20 minutes in this guy’s car”.

She went on: “You have to understand the emergency that both of us felt. Look at what happened last time when a woman accepted a police officer’s help in Clapham and got raped and killed.”

Kerr also said she would “get the Chelsea [edited by admin] lawyers on this”. Mewis claimed the pair had told the taxi driver that they would pay him if he stopped, but he kept driving.

After Lovell reiterated that they had no record of the pair calling 999, Kerr said: “You guys are stupid and white, you guys are [edited by admin] stupid and white.” Kerr then looked up at Lovell and said: “I’m looking you in the eyes, I’m looking you in the eyes, you guys are [edited by admin] stupid.”

Lovell responded: “Why are you bringing race into this?”

Kerr said: “I’m [edited by admin] over this [edited by admin]. This is the world’s [edited by admin] problem. Wait on the call, wait on the call, wait on the call.”

After these comments, Kerr was arrested for criminal damage and a racially aggravated public order. During her arrest, she told Lovell: “Believe women for once.” The criminal damage charge was dropped after the damage to the taxi was paid for.

Grace Forbes, defending Kerr, said: “Nobody disputes the words that were said. But simply saying words, even words like these, does not make you guilty of a criminal offence. Sam Kerr did not feel hostile towards this officer because he is white.

“The law is a little more nuanced, a little more human than that,” she added.

The trial continues.


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2025 7:58 pm 
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A number of things come to mind, some I will reserve until after the verdict.

But what is clear is that lady needs to keep off the booze.

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2025 11:19 pm 
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Well the defence claim here kind of speaks for itself.

But from the taxi driver's perspective, it's not really that relevant to the power and status dynamic here.

More interesting is Samanatha Kerr's comments here towards the end - in particular the 'white privilege' thing about the police officer 'literally a white privilege man' :roll:

Which of course is a thing from 'critical race theory' and stuff like that - the kind of stuff that Trump is sweeping aside in the USA :-o

And, of course, about the taxi driver (presumably a privileged white male as well) being completely and utterly dangerous, about how they weren't treated fairly because it was all men involved and they were women, blah, blah :?

And more than a tad of the 'do you know who I am?' kind of thing...


Sam Kerr trial: officer did not mention impact of ‘stupid and white’ comments in first statement, court hears

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ths-ntwnfb

Defence claims PC Stephen Lovell only submitted second statement after CPS declined to charge Matildas star

The Metropolitan police officer at the centre of Sam Kerr’s criminal trial did not mention being upset by being called “stupid and white” by the footballer in his first statement about the incident, a court has heard, and only included it in a further statement 11 months later.

On Monday Kingston crown court heard that Kerr, 31, the captain of the Australian women’s football team and Chelsea’s star striker, had called PC Stephen Lovell “[edited by admin] stupid and white” at Twickenham police station after he doubted her claim of being “held hostage” by a taxi driver after a night out with her partner, Kristie Mewis, in January 2023.

On Tuesday it was revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service, the body which has the final say on whether a criminal prosecution can go ahead in England and Wales, initially decided against charging Kerr as the evidence did not meet the required threshold.

But the CPS decided to charge her with racially aggravated intentional harassment after a second statement was provided by Lovell in December 2023, 11 months after the incident. He said her comments had left him “shocked, upset and humiliated”. She denies the charges.

During cross-examination on Tuesday, Kerr’s defence barrister, Grace Forbes, asked Lovell about this first statement, which was submitted on the day of the incident which occurred in the early hours of 30 January 2023. She put it to Lovell: “Your first statement made no mention of stupid and white having had an impact.”

Lovell said it did not.

She then accused Lovell of submitting a second statement in December 2023 “because the CPS declined to charge Kerr”, saying “only a year later did you make mention of these words having had an impact on you … The CPS identified there was no evidence of harassment, alarm or distress. You knew that was the obstacle?”.

“No,” Lovell said.

“You are claiming this impact purely to get a criminal charge over the line?” she asked him.

“No,” he said.

Lovell was also asked about Kerr’s status as a well-known sports star. Forbes suggested to him: “You made an assumption about her that she was a troublemaker, that she was difficult and, because of what she does for a living, she was an arrogant person?”

In response, Lovell said he did not know what Kerr did for a living.

Forbes disputed his denial, saying “you told her very early on, that you knew exactly who she was”. Lovell said he did not recall saying that but he knew she was a “famous football player” after a colleague told him.

Kerr and Mewis had ended up at the station after a dispute with a cab driver about paying to clean up after one of them was sick in the cab.

Forbes said one of Lovell’s colleagues asked him if only Kerr and Mewis would be arrested or whether the driver would be too. Forbes said Lovell’s response, according to body-worn camera footage, “was to screw up your face and say, ‘He’s not going to get nicked.’”

Lovell replied that he had not spoken directly to the driver but that he had made an “informed decision” based on an account given to him by a colleague.

Forbes also mentioned footage of Lovell saying to Kerr, “Calm yourself down, young missy.”

In response, he told the court: “I was trying to get my point across.”

Bill Emlyn Jones, for the prosecution, asked Lovell to read out sections from his second statement. In it, he described Kerr’s comments as leaving him “shocked, upset” and “feeling humiliated”. On the comments about his race specifically, he said: “They were too far and I took great offence to them.”

Two witness statements from other officers present said Kerr had made numerous remarks about “white privilege”, the court heard, adding she had called one officer “literally a white privilege man”.

“I wasn’t sure why Kerr mentioned skin colour, as no one had done so previously,” one of the statements said.

Kerr visited Twickenham police station at 10.30pm on 30 January 2023. She was not accompanied by a lawyer.

PC Ryan Skinner interviewed Kerr. In an audio recording of the interview played to the court on Tuesday, Kerr said she “was in a taxi, and I did vomit outside the window”, after which “the taxi driver became very aggressive, and drove very very dangerously”.

She said she had clicked the “emergency thing” on her phone and spoken to someone.

Initially, Kerr said she did not recall calling any of the officers “[edited by admin] stupid and white” but, after being shown footage of her making these remarks, she said: “I was obviously intoxicated and I shouldn’t have been so front-footed but I was very, very threatened with how I felt and I’m a very honest person.

“I didn’t feel protected in that moment as a female and I’m here voluntarily because I want this sorted out.”

She later added that she did not feel protected in the police station because “we only spoke to three males even though we were with a dangerous male”.

Skinner asked Kerr if her comments could be perceived as racist. She replied: “I am aware that anything can be perceived as racist, for sure.”

Kerr told Skinner that she would “apologise” to the officers for the “whole event”. “I wish I walked away and dealt with it in the morning, like I am now. Hindsight is a beautiful thing,” she said.

The trial continues.


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2025 11:23 pm 
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Sky's version also highlights what Kerr claimed she felt regarding the 'dangerous' driver - as highlighted below.

I was also wondering about whether the driver had CCTV or a dashcam, or whatever, but that's dealt with at the end - it would appear not. As, of course, we'd have guessed by reading the narrative so far.

But in terms of uncertainty over what happened in the cab helping the defence case, the driver seems to have effectively disappeared without trace, and seems to be playing no part in the trial. Of course, the trial is really about what Kerr said to the police officer, but obviously the wider context is important in that regard as well.

But we'll presumably never know definitively what precisely happened in the cab :?


Chelsea striker Sam Kerr 'feared for her life' during taxi journey, court hears

https://news.sky.com/story/chelsea-stri ... s-13303122

The Australian footballer alleged she felt ignored by male police officers dealing with the situation as a "heated" discussion took place.

Chelsea striker Sam Kerr has said she feared for her life after a taxi journey and felt ignored by Met Police officers dealing with the situation, a court has heard.

The Australian football star is on trial charged with causing racially aggravated harassment to a police officer following the incident in southwest London in the early hours of 30 January 2023.

The officer involved, PC Stephen Lovell, first saw Kerr that night as she crawled through a smashed taxi window outside Twickenham Police Station, Kingston Crown Court heard.

The taxi driver had driven Kerr and her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, to the station and complained they had refused to pay clean-up costs after one of them was sick and that they had also smashed the vehicle's rear window.

But the women told officers he 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.

The court heard a "heated" discussion then ensued at the station and Kerr allegedly became "abusive and insulting" towards PC Lovell, calling him "stupid and white".

Kerr has said she accepts making the comments but denies they amount to racially aggravated harassment.

In a police interview the following day, Kerr, told the officer in charge that "I shouldn't have been so front-footed" but "in that moment I was feeling very, very threatened because of one: how I was being treated, and two: for my life in that car".

"I was in a taxi and I did vomit outside the window, and in that moment onwards the taxi driver became very aggressive and [was] driving very dangerous, and had us both very, very scared," she said.

"I actually... pressed the emergency thing on my phone and spoke to someone and he [the driver] would not return us, drop us off - we wanted to pay whatever it was. He said [to police] we weren't going to pay but that is not true at all.

"He would not drive us to our location and he was just driving us around and around very, very dangerously. He literally was so dangerous and so scary and he had us both very, very afraid."


She also said she had not felt they were believed when they arrived at the police station and were told to "just behave".

The footballer told officers she had contacted emergency services about the driver but PC Lovell said there was no record of that, the court heard.

Police did not request copies of the emergency service calls at that time, and the taxi driver was never arrested or interviewed.

His last involvement with officers was to facilitate the women paying him for damage to his car.

Speed cameras that may have captured his vehicle were not checked, no ANPR records were searched, nor was cell site data for his devices.

Police asked if he had any recording device in his vehicle, and he told them that he did not but the officers did not check the cab for such a device.

The trial continues.


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:05 pm 
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Wonder how this will play with the court? :-o

Well, it's pretty obvious how they hope it'll play.

You have to read this carefully to work out exactly what's going on. In fact, there are obviously missing pieces of the jigsaw, but you're not allowed to ask :-#

And then there's the racism card being played at the end :-s

I'm not sure if that's anti-white racism because she's white, or racism because she's not white. But I wasn't sure 8-[

Anyway, probably best not to say too much...homophobia, transphobia, racism, misogyny, blah, blah...

Photos of the happy couple via the link...


Matildas captain Sam Kerr has revealed that she and fiancée Kristie Mewis are expecting a baby boy.

It came as the Chelsea star arrived at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday to give evidence on the third day of proceedings.

Kerr is charged with causing racially aggravated harassment to a police officer in January 2023.

Speaking to the court, the 31-year-old revealed she was expecting a baby boy with her fiancée and West Ham star Mewis, and that they planned to get married in December.

Ms Kerr said to the court: ‘We are expecting our first baby boy.’

The couple announced the news in November that Mewis, who plays for West Ham, was expecting a baby, taking to Instagram to reveal the news.

Kerr and Mewis published a heartwarming set of pictures on the social media platform of the pair beaming from ear to ear alongside an image of one of Mewis' scans.

The pair received a flood of congratulations messages, with Ms Kerr's Matildas team-mate Mary Fowler, Fran Kirby, and Caitlin Cooper all taking to social media to issue their congratulations for Kerr and Mewis.

It comes after the couple confirmed their engagement back in 2023.

On Wednesday, Kerr spoke to the court about her relationship with Mewis. She said the pair had met 'about six months' after she had moved to London in 2019 and that Mewis had 'slid into her DMs'.

After initially announcing they were expecting a baby back in November, Kerr and Mewis were met with homophobic abuse from trolls online. The footballers were forced to shut off comments on their Instagram post due to the hateful messages they received from social media users.

The pair shared another heartwarming set of pictures at the end of January, with Mewis showing off her baby bump appearing to reveal that their baby will arrive sometime this spring. Kerr captioned the post: '26 weeks & glowing.'

Kerr has not played football since last January after she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that required surgery.

Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor has stated that Kerr could make a return to football in February or March, with the Chelsea star having been pictured back in training in recent months.

On Monday, a jury at Kingston Crown Court was told that Kerr called a Metropolitan Police officer 'stupid and white' during a dispute at Twickenham Police Station in January 2023.

The Australian and her partner Mewis are alleged to have been out on a night out when the pair were driven to the station in a taxi.

The driver had complained to officers at the station that the pair had refused to pay clean-up costs after one was sick in the back of the taxi and the other smashed one of the vehicle's windows.

The court was later shown a video of Kerr involved in a heated discussion with PC Stephen Lovell in the early hours of January 30, 2023.

Speaking on Wednesday, Kerr was asked by her barrister, Grace Forbes, if she and her family had experienced racism before. She responded: ‘Yes. Towards my brother and father.

‘I was nine or ten when I first witnessed it. At the start, I was quite confused.

‘I think it turned from confusion to being able to understand why and turned more into disappointment and sadness.

‘I experienced… at school, I had experienced being in situations when teachers had instigated that I was the troublemaker when clearly I wasn’t.’

The Australia captain said she had personally experienced racism both in Australia and the UK, where she moved when signing for Chelsea in 2019.

‘I often get at the shopping centre if I’m not dressed correctly I get followed round by a security guard,’ she added.

The case continues.


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 05, 2025 4:54 pm 
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Ah, I see - she identifies as 'white anglo-Indian' - a full deck of race cards waiting to be played, depending on the circumstances :-o

A bit more on the taxi ride itself here - no seatbelts on...

And they tried to book and Uber cos they don't like black cabs :?


Sam Kerr trial: footballer was ‘terrified’ for her life during taxi ride, court told

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... old-ntwnfb

Matildas star tells Kingston crown court that a cab journey turned ‘very scary’ after she was sick out of the window

Sam Kerr said she was “terrified” for her life during a taxi ride after the driver locked the doors and windows before speeding and swerving, which led to her partner smashing the car’s window with her boot in an attempt to escape, a court has heard.

Kerr, 31, the captain of the Australian women’s football team and Chelsea’s star striker, is on trial at Kingston crown court accused of racially aggravated harassment after calling a police officer “[edited by admin] stupid and white” when he doubted her claim of being “held hostage” by the driver. She denies the charges.

Giving evidence on Wednesday, Kerr was asked by her defence counsel, Grace Forbes, about the hours leading up to the incident with PC Stephen Lovell at Twickenham police station in the early hours of 30 January 2023, including the taxi ride.

Kerr told the court she was “terrified for [her] life” and that her partner, Kristie Mewis, had smashed the cab’s window by kicking it while it was still moving as the driver sped and swerved after Kerr was sick out of the window.

Forbes asked the Matilda’s star about her experience of racism growing up in Australia. Kerr, who identifies as White-Anglo-Indian, said she had faced racism since her school days over the colour of her skin.

“At school, I experienced being in situations where teacher had instigated that i was the troublemaker, or had started trouble,” she told the court. Kerr said she continued to face racism over social media and said she was “often followed around by security or a member of staff” while shopping if she was not “dressed correctly”.

Kerr said she moved to the UK in December 2019 after signing with Chelsea. She said she met her partner, Mewis, six months later after the West Ham United player “slid into my DMs”. She said the pair are due to get married in December and are expecting a baby boy in May.

On the evening of 29 January, they had been on a dinner date before visiting another restaurant for a friend’s birthday. Kerr said she had had some wine and cocktails that evening and ended up in a nightclub that was “a bit of a dungeon”. They stayed for 15 minutes before leaving to head home because the club “wasn’t for us”.

Kerr said she had tried to request three Uber taxis but they couldn’t find a ride. Instead, they hailed a black cab, which she told the court she never used over fears related to the Claremont killer, who murdered young women in an area of Perth close to where Kerr grew up.

“I lived in a state where, for 30 years, there was actually a seriel killer roaming that was thought to be a taxi driver, everyone was talking about not getting in taxis,” she said.

She said, at first, the taxi driver drove normally. Roughly 15 minutes into the journey however, Kerr began to feel sick. She put the window down and laid her head “on the outside of the window”.

“I started to feel a little bit sick and I was spit vomiting outside of the gap,” she said. While her head was still sitting on the car’s open window frame, Kerr said the driver rolled it back up. She said from this point onwards, the atmosphere in the cab became “very scary”.

She said he “instantly starting screaming after putting the window up” and it “became very dangerous and very erratic”. Kerr said the car was going “dramatically faster than before” and that it was “swerving in and out of lanes”.

Kerr said neither she nor Mewis had seatbelts on and they were “getting thrown around” the cab.

“I hate speed at the best of times so I was terrified for my life. I didn’t have a seatbelt on so I was getting thrown around the back of the cab,” she said. “Everything was going through my mind being in a car with a stranger.”

Kerr told the court that Mewis had pleaded with the driver to stop the car but he did not listen. “She was very distressed, crying, quite emotional to be honest and scared, said Kerr. “It made me more scared, because I realised how serious the situation was, but it also put me in protection mode for her.”

She said they had “tried everything” to get out of the car, both when it had stopped and was moving, including door handles and trying to open the windows again but everything was locked.

Kerr said the Mewis had smashed the window, kicking it “a couple of times” with her boot while the car was still moving. Forbes asked whether they had discussed this beforehand, Kerr said no and that she felt “surprised”.

Forbes asked Kerr how she felt when it shattered? “Relieved, because I saw it as a way out,” she said.

The trial continues.


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 05, 2025 5:13 pm 
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Slightly different version in the Times, for what it's worth, with a few different nuances.

Interesting that their perception seems to have been than an Uber would be safer than a black cab :-o

Also interesting that she mentions a fake taxi driver/killer from Australia, and the Sarah Everard thing. But no mention of John Worboys, who you'd think they'd consider worth mentioning, but maybe they don't know about him.


Sam Kerr: I was terrified for my life during taxi ordeal

Chelsea star tells court that driver’s ‘very dangerous and erratic’ behavior had preceded incident where she called police officer ‘f***ing stupid and white’

Sam Kerr said she “was terrified for my life” during the taxi journey that preceded her calling a Metropolitan Police officer “stupid and white”.

Kerr, the Chelsea and Australia footballer, denies a charge of racially aggravated harassment under the Public Order Act 1986 and Crime and Disorder Act 1998. The offence carries a maximum sentence of six months to two years in prison.

Bodycam footage played on Monday revealed that Kerr had called PC Stephen Lovell “f***ing stupid and white” in the early hours of January 30, 2023 at Twickenham police station. The incident came after a taxi driver had taken Kerr and her partner, the United States footballer Kristie Mewis, to the police station.

During the journey, the driver said, Kerr had vomited in the taxi and the couple had refused to pay for the repairs. Kerr and Mewis claimed they were being “held hostage” and smashed a taxi window when near the police station to escape.

Kerr, 31, gave evidence for the first time in the trial on Wednesday morning. During the first hour of her testimony she outlined her recollections of the taxi journey, which included the driver shutting a window while her head was out of it and that neither she nor Mewis wearing seatbelts, and previous events that had fuelled her fear.

Kerr began by confirming that she and Mewis, 33, plan to get married in December and that Mewis is pregnant with their baby boy, due this year.

They started going out in 2020, when Mewis “slid into my DMs”, Kerr said. There was a light-hearted moment in the court as Judge Lodder had to clarify the meaning of “DMs” — direct messages on social media.

Kerr’s father is of Indian heritage and was born in Calcutta. It has been noted in court that she identifies as “white Anglo-Indian”. Kerr said that she had encountered racism directed at her and her family since she was aged “nine or ten”.

She then detailed how she had been out for dinner in London — at the Amazonica restaurant in Mayfair — on the evening of January 29, 2023 with Mewis. The pair had then gone to a second Mayfair restaurant, Bagatelle, and spent about 15 minutes at a nightclub as part of celebrations for their friend Steph’s birthday. Kerr said they had had shared a bottle of wine and had a couple of cocktails each.

Kerr likened the nightclub to “a bit of a dungeon”, with her and Mewis deciding it was “not for them”. After three failed attempts to order an Uber, Kerr and Mewis hailed a black cab to take them from Oxford Street to Kerr’s home in Twickenham. Kerr said she preferred using Uber because “you can share your ride with people and it’s much safer for a young girl” but, with no Uber arriving, “the black cab just drove down the street and we hailed it”.

Kerr said the start of the taxi journey was “completely fine” but she started to feel sick and opened a taxi window to “get some fresh air”. At this stage, she said, the driver started screaming and closed the window while her head was still out of it, turning the atmosphere “very scary”.

This moment led to the driving “becoming very dangerous and erratic”, according to Kerr. She said he accelerated and decelerated sharply and swerved on to sideroads. Kerr and Mewis, who were not wearing seatbelts throughout the journey, repeatedly swapped seats to try to speak with and hear the driver.

“I hate speed at the best of times, so I was terrified for my life,” Kerr said. “I didn’t have a seatbelt on so I was getting thrown around the back of the cab.”

Kerr added that Mewis asked multiple times for the car to be stopped, but there was “no change” in the driver’s behaviour. This made Kerr, who said she was the “more masculine one” in the relationship “more scared because I realised how serious the situation was, but it also put me in protective mode for her [Mewis]”.

Kerr said that she feared both “dying in a car crash” and that the driver “could take us anywhere”. She confirmed that “the girl in Clapham” heard in the bodycam video was a reference to Sarah Everard, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a Metropolitan Police officer in March 2021. She also said that the case of the “Claremont Killer”, which involved a man murdering women after luring them into his car in the 1990s in her native Western Australia, had affected her psychologically.

Unable to open the windows or doors, Kerr confirmed that Mewis smashed a window in the back of the taxi. She felt “relief” as she “saw it as a way out”, but did not get out of the window straight away because the car was moving.

Kerr is one of the most famous women in Australia. She has scored 99 goals for Chelsea, who are the Women’s Super League champions, and is considered one of the best footballers in the world. In June she signed a contract extension with the London club that runs until 2026. However, she has not played for 12 months because of an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Kerr has admitted she was drunk on the night of the incident, but denies refusing to pay for the taxi’s repairs. In a voluntary police interview on the night after the incident, Kerr said she “didn’t feel heard or protected in the police station”, citing that all three officers she and Mewis spoke to were men.

On Tuesday PC Lovell denied “making something up” to get Kerr charged. In his original witness statement, from January 2023, he made no reference to feeling that the comment had caused him harassment, alarm or disorder. The Crown Prosecution Service concluded the following July that the incident did not meet the threshold for an offence. However, once the police requested a review from the CPS, Lovell said in a second statement in December 2023 that the comment referencing race had affected him. Lovell said he was unaware of Kerr’s fame.

It was also confirmed on Tuesday that emergency had logged a call by Kerr while she was in the taxi. PC Lovell was not aware of this call during the incident, and their disagreement over the issue came just before the “stupid and white” comment.

A minute-long audio clip of Kerr’s call was played on Wednesday. It seemed to record commotion but very few words were clearly audible. Judge Lodder has requested a transcript.

Kerr will give further evidence on Wednesday afternoon, while Mewis is expected to do so on Thursday.

The trial continues.


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 05, 2025 8:02 pm 
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Wonder how this will play with the court? :-o

I would imagine the judge's summing up is really the only thing that will play with the court.

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 05, 2025 8:08 pm 
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And they tried to book and Uber cos they don't like black cabs :?

I would imagine the feeling is mutual.

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 05, 2025 9:00 pm 
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This is part of a Times article, which basically seems like an update of the one above. But I think most of this is new, and it's mainly about how she claimed to be 'triggered' by the police officer 'racially profiling' her - all the race card buzzwords :-o

And the taxi driver also had a 'very strong South Asian accent' - I'd actually assumed he was white as well 8-[

And worth reading the stuff at the end about her memory of being in the cab etc - she said she was able to stand up in the moving cab, but has been complaining about being thrown about because the driver was driving dangerously etc :-s


Sam Kerr: Police treated me differently because of colour of my skin

Chelsea star also tells court that driver’s ‘very dangerous and erratic’ behaviour left her ‘terrified for my life’ before incident where she called police officer ‘f***ing stupid and white’

Sam Kerr has said that she called a Metropolitan Police officer “stupid and white” because she felt he was racially profiling her.[...]

Kerr’s father is of Indian heritage and was born in Calcutta, and it has been noted in court that she identifies as “white Anglo-Indian”. Mewis, meanwhile, is white.

Kerr, 31, gave evidence for the first time in the trial on Wednesday. She said she referenced PC Lovell’s race because she believed her ethnicity influenced his approach.

“I believed they treated me differently based on what they perceived to be the colour of my skin,” Kerr said, adding that she feared PC Lovell was “arresting me for the damage even though Kristie had said five-plus times that it was her [who smashed the window]”.

Kerr thought the police were “trying to pin it on me”, leaving her “triggered” by seemingly receiving different treatment based on “how I look”.

“I’d honestly never been that scared before,” she said. “I expressed myself poorly in that video, but the point I was trying to get across was that I felt that they were treating me as the person who had done something wrong because they were in a position of power. They were treating me differently because of the colour of my skin.”

Kerr, who said she had endured racism since childhood, had a similar explanation for why she called PC Lovell a “white-privileged man”.

“It was clear to me that he had no idea about the power and privilege he had,” she said.

PC Lovell’s tone was “dismissive” and he was “smirking at what we said”, Kerr told the court. Her lawyer, Grace Forbes, asked Kerr why she called PC Lovell “sick” after he queried why she thought the taxi driver was going to “rape and kill” her if he had driven to a police station.

“The way he commented on what the driver could have done to me showed that he has never experienced that or ever had to think about what can happen to you as a female,” Kerr responded. “We had just come from one dangerous stranger [the taxi driver] to not being believed by three other men [Lovell and the two other officers at the station]. I also felt like, ‘Of course they are going to believe the man they don’t know over the two females they don’t know.’ ”

Kerr admitted that her claim on the night that she would “get the f***ing Chelsea lawyers on this” was a “bluff”, as she had never had any direct contact at that time.

The night after the incident, Kerr was voluntarily interviewed without a lawyer at Kingston police station by PC Ryan Skinner. “The first thing the officer [PC Skinner] said was, ‘I’m glad you didn’t come with that big lawyer team you said you would,’” she said.

In his cross-examination, the prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC raised doubt over the accuracy of Kerr’s account, considering she was drunk enough to vomit in the taxi.

Jones raised how Kerr, in her voluntary interview, did not remember calling PC Lovell “stupid and white”. “If you didn’t remember that, is it fair to say there are likely to be a lot of things you didn’t remember about that drunken night,” Jones said.

Kerr said her memory of the night was “decently good”, but did not remember the plastic screen between the taxi’s front and back seats getting smashed, nor that the driver had what Jones called a “very strong south Asian accent”.

Jones disputed Kerr’s claim that she would have been able to stand up while drunk in a moving taxi that was, according to her, being driven erratically. He cited that she claimed to be “thrown around” but Kerr said standing in the vehicle was “easy”, and denied Jones’s assertion that she was “drunk and got it wrong”.

“You do have a miraculously perfect memory of what you said, how you felt and why you felt it,” Jones said. His cross-examination will continue on Thursday, before Mewis is expected to give evidence.[...]


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 06, 2025 7:14 pm 
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They were being 'gaslit', apparently :-o

Certainly a bit of gaslighting going on, but opinions may differ on who's doing the gaslighting :roll:


Sam Kerr was ‘speaking her truth’ in clash with police, partner tells court

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ce-officer

Kristie Mewis says the Matildas star was ‘treated differently’ by officers after a late-night taxi dispute and that the pair felt ‘gaslit’

Sam Kerr’s fiance said the footballer was “speaking her truth” when she called a police officer “stupid and white”, a court has heard.

Kerr, 31, the captain of the Australian women’s football team and Chelsea’s star striker, is on trial at Kingston crown court accused of racially aggravated harassment after calling a police officer “[edited by admin] stupid and white” when he doubted her claim of being “held hostage” by a taxi driver. She denies the charges.

On Thursday, Kerr’s partner and fiance Kristie Mewis told the court that Kerr was “speaking her truth” after being “treated differently” by officers when she made the comments. She accused them of “gaslighting” the couple after they doubted their account of being “held hostage” in a taxi in the early hours of 30 January 2023.

Mewis, who is pregnant with the couple’s child, was asked by Grace Forbes, who is defending Kerr, about her reaction when Kerr called PC Stephen Lovell “stupid and white”.

“I think that, in that moment, she was speaking her truth in how she was feeling. I think that subconsciously, she felt like she was being treated differently. I’ve seen it a lot,” said Mewis, an American who is also a professional footballer.

She said she had seen Kerr “treated differently multiple times” and later told the court that Kerr had “been treated differently, and spoke to differently, for her whole life. I think that she was feeling the same thing she had felt before”.

Mewis became emotional twice on the witness stand. When asked how she felt in the taxi, which she said was moving “uncontrollably fast” after Kerr got sick out of the window, she teared up and said it “felt like someone else had control over me and that was obviously very scary”.

Later, she was asked to describe Kerr as a person and struggled to hold back tears.Mewis said: “Sam is so loving and she’s so humble. She’s would help anybody, that’s one of the things I love about her so much, how helpful, and loving and humble she is.

“She’s so inspiring, she inspires me everyday. I wouldn’t want anyone else to be the mother of my child.”

Mewis described how she “immediately felt fear for my life” in a locked, speeding taxi. After a night out in London, the pair hailed a black cab back to theior home. During the journey, Mewis said Kerr rolled down the windows of the cab and was sick outside. After this, she said the driver pulled over and “started yelling” before he resumed driving in a reckless manner.

She said she had “never driven in a car that fast before” and “tried everything to get out”. She said, after the “initial shock wore off”, she knew she had to do “something dramatic” to save them. In the course of this, the taxi driver called the police.

“I didn’t know if it was a kidnapping or if we were going to crash,” she said. Mewis said she was “kicking straight out with both feet” and broke the car’s window in a bid to escape before it parked outside Twickenham police station – on the instruction of police who answered the taxi driver’s call.

When they went inside the station, Mewis said the police were “dismissive” of their claims.

“It felt a little bit gaslighting,” she told the court. “Like it would just be easier for them if the whole thing was our fault.”

She said the ordeal they relayed to officers would be “different” when repeated back to them. “The way he would say it back would manipulate it back to us,” she told the court.

Eventually, Kerr paid the driver £900 for the damage. Mewis said they paid the sum because she wanted to “escape the situation” and that Mewis “was trying to make the US football team that summer.

Earlier in the day, Kerr was cross-examined by prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones. He asked her whether she was using Lovell’s “whiteness as an insult”, which she denied.

When pressed again about what “his race had to do with anything”, Kerr said: “I believed it was him using his power and privilege over me because he was accusing me of being something I’m not.”

In a testy exchange, Emlyn Jones said: “Ms Kerr, if I put to you that you’re [edited by admin] stupid, that would be bang out of order wouldn’t it?”

“Yes,” she responded.

“I’d be insulting you?,” he said.

“Yes. I expressed myself very poorly,” she said.

Kerr was asked why she told Lovell she has “got all the [edited by admin] people in the world” and has “[edited by admin] Chelsea going on”. She said it was an attempt to “bluff” to “make myself feel protected”.

The trial continues.


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 06, 2025 7:17 pm 
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When pressed again about what “his race had to do with anything”, Kerr said: “I believed it was him using his power and privilege over me because he was accusing me of being something I’m not.”

Using 'power and privilege', eh? Who was it who almost said 'Do you know who I am?' ?

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Kerr was asked why she told Lovell she has “got all the [edited by admin] people in the world” and has “[edited by admin] Chelsea going on”


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