The ongoing trial of Chelsea footballer Sam Kerr has thrown up an ongoing issue with the Met Police in their pursuit of racially-related charges. Kerr was travelling in a taxi with her partner when she claims that the driver locked the cab and started speeding and swerving. Kerr told the court that she was “terrified” as her and her partner attempted to escape being “held hostage.”
‘Very dangerous and very erratic’
The Guardian recounted Sam Kerr’s statement to the court:
She said he [the taxi driver] “instantly starting screaming after putting the window up” and it “became very dangerous and very erratic”. Kerr said the car was going “dramatically faster than before” and that it was “swerving in and out of lanes”.
Sam Kerr explained that her partner, Kristie Mewis, was also scared:
She was very distressed, crying, quite emotional to be honest and scared. It made me more scared, because I realised how serious the situation was, but it also put me in protection mode for her.
The two then began to kick at the windows in an attempt to leave the cab.
Why, then, would Kerr be the one who ended up arrested?
When a police officer cast doubt as to whether Kerr and her partner were actually being held hostage, Sam Kerr is believed to have called the officer:
fucking stupid and white.
Kerr is accused of racially aggravated harassment because of this comment and, importantly, denies the charges.
Sam Kerr and her experiences of racism growing up
Sam Kerr recounted that as a white Anglo-Indian she has experienced racism throughout her life:
At school, I experienced being in situations where teacher had instigated that I was the troublemaker, or had started trouble.
Kerr also explained that she has had constant experiences with racism on social media, and in person. Kerr’s account is one that will be familiar for people of colour. A traumatising ordeal which, when escalated to figures of authority is compounded with racist treatment.
The officer in question, PC Lovell, only reported his upset at being called “stupid and white” 11 months after the incident. As the Guardian reported:
It was revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service, the body which has the final say on whether a criminal prosecution can go ahead in England and Wales, initially decided against charging Kerr as the evidence did not meet the required threshold.
But the CPS decided to charge her with racially aggravated intentional harassment after a second statement was provided by Lovell in December 2023, 11 months after the incident.
Kerr is also said to have told the police:
this is a racial fucking thing.
Sam Kerr explained that she was in “a scared and distressed state.” She did also express her regret at how she articulated herself but said:
I feel the message was still relevant.
She also emphasised that she believed officers at the station treated her differently because of:
what they perceived to be the colour of my skin.
Sam Kerr and the trial: a familiar story
The trial is still ongoing, and it remains to be seen how the court will deal with Sam Kerr’s charges. However, already we can see how sympathy and the benefit of the doubt from authority figures is the preserve of white people. From Kerr’s own account, we see a person who has dealt with racism all her life put in a difficult and distressing situation. Then, while in a vulnerable moment, describing police treatment as it appeared to be.
What business does the Met Police have in pursuing charges of racial harassment against a white cop? Just a few months ago, the Met Police were heavily criticised for pursuing charges of a racially aggravated public order offence against Marieha Hussain for calling Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman coconuts on a protest placard. Hussain was found not guilty, but only after a media firestorm where racism was hotly debated by people ill-equipped to do
The Met Police have been found to be institutionally misogynist and racist. It’s little wonder that Sam Kerr was apprehensive at how she may be treated after a distressing situation. Kerr may well have been rude and abrupt, but it simply isn’t possible to be racist to a white person. And, given the context of widespread misogyny and racism, it’s entirely reasonable for someone to be wary of their treatment as a woman of colour in a police station.
Whatever the outcome of the trial, if PC Lovell is still feeling upset might we suggest the advice of one UK judge who told a Muslim man to “rise above” racism during the race riots of 2023?
Featured image via the Canary
