Police treatment was racial, footballer tells court

Chelsea and Australia star Samantha Kerr is considered to be one of the world's best strikers

Chelsea footballer Samantha Kerr has told a court she believes officers at Twickenham police station treated her differently based on "what they perceived to be the colour of my skin".

The Australia international denies causing racially aggravated harassment to PC Stephen Lovell during an incident in south-west London by calling him "stupid and white".

The alleged incident happened after Ms Kerr was taken by a taxi driver to the station following a disagreement over payment when she was on a night out on 30 January 2023.

A video showed to Kingston Crown Court shows Ms Kerr swearing at the officer and saying it was "a racial thing".

Ms Kerr was with her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, when the incident alleged happened.

Ms Kerr told the court the driver took the couple to Twickenham police station after said she "spit vomited" out of the window of his vehicle while Ms Mewis smashed the rear window as the driver had locked the doors.

The defence asked Ms Kerr how it felt being with the three police officers, including PC Lovell, at the station.

She told the court that at first she felt relieved before feeling scared again because "they were trying to tell us that we were the ones who had done something criminal here".

She added that the conduct of two of the officers was "antagonising".

Asked what she meant, she said: "Not believing us – telling us things hadn't happened that I knew had happened, making me feel like a liar, second guessing myself."

PC Stephen Lovell gave evidence in court on Tuesday

Asked by the defence, Grace Forbes, what it was like watching the video, Ms Kerr said: "It's really hard to watch myself like that."

Ms Kerr told the court she took a video of what was happening because she felt she needed to prove she was being treated poorly.

The court heard PC Lovell said in the video: "Do you think a taxi driver who is going to rape and kill you would take you to a police station?"

Responding, Ms Kerr said in the video that he was a "white privileged person".

When asked in court why she said this at the time, she said PC Lovell "had no idea about the power and privilege he had in that moment or in life, because the way he commented on what the driver could have done to me showed he had never had to think about what can happen to you as a female."

West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis was in the taxi with her partner Ms Kerr

Ms Kerr also told the court she had feared for her life as she and her partner were "trapped" in the back of a taxi.

Ms Kerr told the jury she had put her head out of the window when she began to feel sick before the driver closed it and began to "drive dangerously".

When asked, she said Ms Mewis kicked the back window with her boot a few times before it shattered and she was relieved "there was a way out".

The footballer also told the court the murder of Sarah Everard was "prominent" in her mind, as she said the driver of the taxi had locked the doors and did not respond when she and her partner "begged" him to let them out.

Ms Kerr told the court she had experienced racism

Ms Kerr also told the court she had experienced "being treated differently" because of the colour of her skin.

She said she identified as "white anglo-Indian", with her mother from Australia and father from India, the jury heard.

When questioned by the defence, she said she first experienced racism at the ages of nine or 10 years old.

She told the court there were situations where she perceived to have been treated differently, for example on social media. At a shopping centre, "if I am not dressed correctly I have often been followed round by a security guard", she added.

Ms Kerr told the court she moved to the UK from Australia in December 2019 after signing with Chelsea.

The trial continues.