Chelsea striker Sam Kerr is on trial at Kingston Crown Court charged with racially aggravated harassment after allegedly calling a police officer "stupid and white" during an incident in January 2023.
The Australian football star, 31, faces accusations of making the comments towards PC Stephen Lovell at Twickenham Police Station following a late-night taxi journey with her fiancée, fellow footballer Kristie Mewis.
The incident occurred after a taxi driver took Kerr and Mewis directly to the police station in the early hours of January 30, 2023.
The driver had reported that one of his passengers had been sick in his car and refused to pay the clean-up costs.
Sam Kerr allegedly called a police officer 'stupid and white'
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During the journey, one of the women allegedly smashed the vehicle's rear window.
Police officers outside the station at around 2:20am observed smashed glass around the taxi and saw Kerr attempting to climb out of the window alongside Mewis.
Kerr claimed she believed they were being kidnapped after the driver refused to take them to her home address.
Body-worn camera footage played to the jury captured Kerr telling PC Lovell: "Honestly, you guys are f***ing stupid and white."
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC told the court: "The defendant's comments towards PC Lovell left him shocked, upset, and humiliated."
The prosecutor added that PC Lovell took offence because "his being a white man really had nothing to do with anything."
PC Shane Scott described Kerr as being "inebriated, very agitated and emotional" during the incident.
Kerr denied intending to cause harassment, alarm or distress to the officer, telling the court: "I was just very angry at how I felt."
She described the situation as distressing and "a heated moment," noting that both she and Mewis were crying at the time.
Defence lawyer Grace Forbes told jurors: "Nobody disputes the words that were said. But simple words, even words like these, do not make you guilty of a criminal offence."
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Sam Kerr pleaded not guilty to the offences in March last year
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Forbes added the words were "a comment, however poorly expressed, about positions of power, about privilege, and how those things might colour perception."
Kerr, who identifies as white Anglo-Indian, pleaded not guilty to the offence at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court on March 4, 2024.
The Chelsea striker, who joined the Women's Super League champions in 2020, is currently sidelined with a knee injury.
The trial continues at Kingston Crown Court.
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