The Japan Times - Police officer 'determined' to pursue prosecution of Chelsea star Kerr

Kerr, 31, is charged with causing racially aggravated harassment to police constable Stephen Lovell during an incident in southwest London in the early hours of January 30, 2023.

It is alleged that Kerr and her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, had been out drinking when they were driven to a police station by a taxi driver.

He complained that they had refused to pay clean-up costs after one of them had vomited, and that one of them had smashed the vehicle's rear window.

The women told officers the driver had been "acting in a crazy way" by driving fast, repeatedly stopping and speeding up again, locking them in the car, and refusing to let them go for about 15 minutes, Kingston Crown Court heard.

Footage from Lovell's body-worn camera was previously played to jurors, in which Kerr told Lovell and another police officer that she and Mewis were "very scared" and "trying to escape" the cab when they damaged the vehicle.

At the police station Kerr, who is of mixed race, is alleged to have become "abusive and insulting" towards Lovell, using an expletive and calling him "stupid and white".

Kerr accepts making the comments but denies that they amount to the charge.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) originally decided not to charge Kerr, the court heard.

It was put to Lovell that he only provided a statement alleging that Kerr's comments had caused alarm or harassment after that decision.

In his first statement to the CPS, the officer made no mention of the "stupid and white" comment having an impact on him, the jury was told.

Prosecutors authorised the police to charge Kerr after Lovell submitted a second statement in December 2023.

He read a section of that statement to the court that said the comments made him "shocked, upset, and (left) me feeling humiliated".

Grace Forbes, defending Kerr, asked Lovell whether he had been "determined to pursue" Kerr.

Lovell said "yes" and Forbes asked "through the criminal courts"? The officer said "yes" again.

She noted that prosecutors had originally found no evidence of harassment or alarm caused by Kerr's comments, and suggested Lovell's second statement described their effect "purely to get a criminal charge over the line".

During re-examination by prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones, Lovell told the jury that Kerr's words had made him feel "belittled and upset".

Kerr made her debut for current Women's Super League champions Chelsea in 2020. She is currently out of action with a knee injury.

K.Yamaguchi--JT