Chelsea Women's Footballer Tried In Racial Harassment Case To Police

Sam Kerr was tried for racial harassment (Instagram/@samanthakerr20).

JAKARTA - Chelsea striker and Australian captain Sam Kerr were tried in London court on Monday, February 3, 2025, for alleged racial abuse against a white policeman after an argument drunk with a taxi driver.

"You guys are really stupid and white," Kerr told police Stephen Lovell at the time.

Kerr, who has Indian descent, admits to saying the words, but has pleaded not guilty to a single charge of racial abuse.

His lawyers argue that he made comments about power and privilege.

The 31-year-old female soccer player sat on the defendant's chair at the Kingston Crown Court when prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told the jury that she and her colleague, Kristie Mewis, who played for West Ham United, called a taxi in the early hours of January 30, 2023 after evening out.

"Their taxi trip didn't go smoothly. The taxi driver finally called the police to complain about their behavior, reporting that they were trying to break the window," said Emlyn Jones.

The taxi driver took them to the police station, not to Kerr's house. After that, Kerr commented on the ethnic Lovell.

Kerr's lawyer, Grace Forbes, said that Kerr's words did not make him a criminal.

"The law is a little more nuanced, a little more human than that. Sam Kerr doesn't feel hostile to the officer because he is white."

"Those words are comments, we say - even though they are expressed poorly - about the position of power, about privileges, and about how these things can affect perceptions," Forbes said.

Kerr has scored 199 goals throughout his career in the Women's Super League, Australian W League, and NWSL.

He is also Australia's all-time top scorer with 69 goals in 128 appearances, but has been sidelined since anterior ligament injury in January 2024.

The trial is expected to be completed this week.