Prosecutors within the trial of Chelsea striker Sam Kerr, who allegedly known as a police officer “stupid and white”, have requested the jury if perceptions can be completely different had she stated “stupid and black”.
The Australia worldwide is on trial charged with inflicting racially aggravated harassment to PC Stephen Lovell throughout an incident in south-west London within the early hours of January 30 2023.
It’s alleged that Kerr, 31, and her associate, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, had been out consuming once they had been pushed to Twickenham Police Station by a taxi driver who complained that they’d refused to pay clean-up prices after certainly one of them was sick, and that certainly one of them smashed the automobile’s rear window.
On the police station, Kerr is alleged to have grow to be “abusive and insulting” in direction of PC Lovell, calling him “f****** stupid and white”.
In his closing speech, prosecutor Invoice Emlyn-Jones KC requested the jury: “What if PC Lovell had been a black male and what if she had called him f***** stupid and black?
“Now after all that isn’t a good query, as a result of black and white is just not a good swap.
“Calling a white man is not as loaded, so you can’t just turn it around, it is not as easy as that.
“Within the warmth of the second this was an insult delivered in reference to race and that’s what the regulation prohibits.
“The test for you is the same regardless of the ethnicity in question. She was insulting him and, at the time, she was hostile to him by reference to his race.
“So the actual fact it is possible for you to to consider a lot worse examples of racial aggravation is irrelevant.
“Would we consider this a racially aggravated insult if she had said stupid and black? Of course you would, it wouldn’t even be contestable.”
In the course of the trial, the court docket heard character references from Chelsea teammates and former head coach Emma Hayes.
Carly Telford, a goalkeeper who performed for Chelsea from 2017 to 2022, described Kerr as a “close friend” and an “introverted extrovert”.
She stated: “On the pitch you see the skills, the back flips [but] away from pitch, she’s quite quiet and shy. Quite reserved.”
She described her as “generous” together with her cash and stated she typically thought of how she might cowl prices for the youthful gamers on nights out “to make sure they can celebrate with us”.
Grace Forbes, defending Kerr, learn out statements from Ms Hayes, Chelsea captain Millie Vivid and midfielder Erin Cuthbert.
Ms Hayes, who’s the previous Chelsea supervisor and present head coach of the US soccer workforce, stated Kerr was an “exemplary role model” and described her as “one of the warmest, friendliest, kindest and most considerate players”.
She added: “She is calm and level-headed and mindful. She comes from a wonderful family. She has the biggest heart, she is a big kid at heart, I think she does well to manage everything that is thrown at her and the expectation that is placed on her.”
Ms Vivid described Kerr as a “truly special human”, whereas Ms Cuthbert stated she was a “great friend and teammate” who “has a unique knack of seeing the best in everyone”.
The trial continues.
