Sam Kerr trial: Matildas star says policeman ‘triggered’ racism memories before referencing Claremont killer

Australia soccer star Sam Kerr has denied she was “drunk and kicking off” in the back of a London taxi before the ill-fated exchange with police that led to her being tried on a racially aggravated public order offence in a British court.

On a draining day in the witness box, the Matildas captain relived the racism her family suffered in Australia, spoke of her similar experiences in England and reiterated she and her partner Kristie Mewis were “terrified” and feared they were being “kidnapped” by the cab’s driver.

On a lighter note the trial doubled as an unusual gender reveal as Kerr said her American fiancée Mewis was carrying a baby boy, due in May.

Kerr took the stand on day three of the trial and faced a demanding last half-hour of cross-examination from top London KC Bill Emlyn Jones, who last month was successfully prosecuting the case of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old murdered by her father and step-mother.

Mr Jones elicited from Kerr an agreement that “you were so drunk you were sick” but denied that she was “kicking off in the back because you were drunk, had misunderstood what was going on and your behaviour became excitable”.

Kerr said her memory of the night was “decently good” although she could remember nothing of the driver who was described by the barrister as having a “strong south Asian accent” (which in the UK is likely to mean from the Indian sub-continent).

This was relevant as earlier Kerr had told her own counsel, Grace Forbes, she “believed (the police) were treating me differently based on what they perceived was the colour of my skin, particularly PC Lovell”.

Police constable Stephen Lovell is the officer Kerr twice called “f***ing stupid and white” in the early hours of January 30, 2023, leading to being charged with racially aggravated harassment with intent to cause alarm or distress.

PC Lovell’s attitude “was triggering,” said Kerr.

“I felt I had experienced this, people trying to put things on me because of how I look, who I am.”

Kerr, mostly composed in demeanour and wearing a white long-sleeved top with her hair tied back, described how she had “witnessed my brother (former West Coast Eagles star Daniel) and father (Roger, who was is Anglo-Indian, and is in court) experience racism because of the colour of their skin”.

Racism, she added, had “always been a touchy subject growing up, been prominent in Australia with the Indigenous population. I was about nine or ten when I first witnessed it. I was quite confused, then sad”.

At school she was labelled “a trouble-maker when clearly I was not”. Even now, “at a shopping centre, if not dressed correctly, I get followed by security guards or staff”.

Kerr explained after a night out in central London she and Mewis tried to call an Uber, which they prefer as the app has a ride-sharing function so friends can track a journey.

Unable to do so they took a cab, which Kerr said she normally shuns on safety reasons, noting she had grown up amid speculation “Claremont killer” Bradley Edwards - who was convicted in 2020 for two murders in 1996 and 1997 - was a cabbie.

The 40-minute trip home was fine until Kerr, feeling nauseous, put her head out of the window and began vomiting. At this point, she said, the cabbie began shouting and driving “dangerously and erratically,” speeding up and swerving round corners.

Neither woman was wearing a seatbelt so they found themselves being thrown around the cab. Kerr said she feared for her life, both scared of crashing and of a male stranger “having power over us”.

Mewis became distressed and Kerr said she felt protective. “That is the role I play in the relationship, I am the more masculine one. I am just seen as, for the lack of a better phrase, the man-type role”.

When the taxi stopped by a police station and officers arrived she “felt relieved,” but became scared again as she “felt something dodgy was going on, I felt they were trying to get me for criminal damage,” after Mewis had broken a cab window trying to escape.

That ultimately led to her abuse of PC Lovell. Of watching the exchange on a video recording she said, “It is hard to watch. I am embarrassed watching that back, the way I was acting, but also watching myself in that much distress.”

Mewis will take the stand on Thursday after the cross-examination of Kerr concludes.