Chelsea striker broke taxi window ‘after driver refused to let her out’

Chelsea striker Samantha Kerr and fellow footballer Kristie Mewis told officers they felt ‘very scared’ after a taxi driver ‘refused to let them out’.

Chelsea striker Sam Kerr outside Kingston Crown Court, south west London, following a hearing where she is charged with alleged racially aggravated harassment of a police officer (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Chelsea striker Samantha Kerr told Metropolitan police officers she and her footballer partner broke the rear window of a taxi because they felt “trapped and very scared” after the driver refused to let them out, a jury has heard.

The Australian football star, 31, is on trial charged with causing racially aggravated harassment to Metropolitan Police officer Stephen Lovell during an incident in south-west London, in the early hours of January 30 2023.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC told a Kingston Crown Court jury that Kerr and her partner, fellow footballer Kristie Mewis, had been out drinking when they were driven to Twickenham Police Station by a taxi driver who complained the passengers refused to pay clean-up costs after one of them was sick and that one of them had smashed the vehicle’s rear window.

Sam Kerr court case — Chelsea and Australia striker Sam Kerr arrives at Kingston Crown Court, south west London (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

At the police station, Kerr is alleged to have become “abusive and insulting” towards Pc Stephen Lovell, calling him “stupid and white”.

Footage from Pc Lovell’s body worn camera was played to jurors, in which Kerr tells Pc Lovell and Pc Samuel Limb that she and Ms Mewis were “very scared” and “trying to escape” the cab when they damaged the vehicle.

She can be heard saying: “I hate to break it to you, but when a male is driving a f***ing car, for us, for two women, it’s f***ed, it’s f***ing scary.”

In the footage, both Kerr and Ms Mewis appear intoxicated and distressed, with Ms Mewis visibly crying.

Kerr can also be heard telling the two police officers: “This taxi driver held me and her hostage for about 15 minutes.

“I was like, ‘Please, let us out and I will pay whatever you want’.

“We were begging to get out of there. We were trying to escape – we were trapped.

“You have to understand the emergency that both of us felt. What do you expect us to do as women in that situation?”

In the footage, both footballers also accuse the officers of believing the taxi driver’s version of events over their own.

PC Lovell, who gave evidence on Monday, told the jury that Kerr’s comments that he was “stupid and white” made him feel “upset”.

He is to be cross-examined by Kerr’s defence lawyer Grace Forbes when the trial resumes on Tuesday.