Matildas star Sam Kerr has told a London court she was treated differently by police because of the colour of her skin, and said she had been “terrified for her life” when a taxi driver had refused to stop and let her and her partner out.
Kerr took to the stand at Kingston-on-Thames Crown Court for the first time on Thursday, where she faces one charge of racially aggravated harassment of Metropolitan Police officer Police Constable (PC) Stephen Lovell.
It is alleged that Kerr and her partner, Kristie Mewis, has been out drinking when a dispute with a taxi driver on their way home led to them being fearful for their lives. Kerr said the pair tried to open the doors and windows of the taxi several times, but they remained locked.
“I was terrified for my life. Everything was going through my mind about being in a car with a stranger I deemed to be dangerous. There was no reasoning with him. It was his way or nothing,” Kerr told the court.
“Kristie asked him to stop the car but there was no change to his driving. We had no idea where we were.
“Kristie was very distressed. She was crying and scared. I’ve never seen her like that before and it made me more scared.”
The taxi driver took them to a police station, where body cam footage shows Kerr calling police officer Stephen Lovell “f—ing stupid and white” when he cast doubt on her claim of “being held hostage” by the driver. Kerr accepts making the comments but denies that they amount to the charge of racially aggravated harassment.
“What were you expressing or trying to express with that comment?” Grace Forbes, Kerr’s lawyer, asked her in court.
“I expressed myself poorly in that video,” Kerr said. “The point I was trying to get across was I felt like they were treating me differently and not believing me and treating me as a person who had done something wrong, because they were in a position of power, and I believed they were treating me differently because of the colour of my skin.”
“I think that if people in a position of power or someone with position of privilege doesn’t understand or acknowledge that, that’s very dangerous and I think this happens everywhere around the world, I have experienced this multiple times.”
Kerr admitted to being drunk and becoming sick in the taxi, but said she was not “kicking off”. Meanwhile, Mewis had broken a window of the cab in an attmept to escape.
In body cam footage, Lovell can be heard questioning Kerr as to why a taxi driver would take people he planned on “raping and murdering” to a police station. Kerr responded to this comment by telling him, ‘you’re sick, you’re honestly sick”.
“I thought he was making light of what had happened to us, it was almost an antagonising comment,” she told the court, mentioning that the murder of Sarah Everard had been at the forefront of her mind.
While in the taxi, Kerr said she had called the police for help but the call had been terminated. Call logs showed the driver had also called the police about Kerr and Mewis’ behaviour and had been advised to bring them to the closest police station.
Kerr said she had not been aware that the police had been contacted by the driver at the time.
When asked by her lawyer why she had used the words “white” and “privileged” to describe Lovell, Kerr responded that, “It was clear he had no idea about the privilege he had in that moment or in life”.
“He’s never experienced that or [had to] think about what could happen to you as a female,” she said.
Kerr told the court she had experience racism at different times in her life, giving the example of being followed by security at shopping centres. She said she identifies as “white anglo-Indian”, with her mother from Australia and father from India.
“If I am not dressed correctly I have often been followed round by a security guard,” she said.
The trial continues.