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Breaking: Sam Kerr found not guilty | 01:20
Sam Kerr’s mask slipped just once.
The Matildas captain, who has always been so composed on the football field, proved throughout the seven days of her trial at Kingston Crown Court she is as cool a customer as they come.
The 31-year-old was on Wednesday morning (AEDT) found not guilty on one charge of racially aggravated harassment after she called a police officer “f***ing stupid and white”.
Kerr made the comment while in the middle of a “heated exchange” with a London police officer in the early hours of January 30, 2023, after a harrowing taxi ride ordeal where she said she feared for her life. Kerr admitted in the trial she was “intoxicated” and had vomited.
The Chelsea striker showed no emotion as the jury handed down their verdict after deliberating for a touch over four hours.
Kerr simply looked down as she found out the verdict and gave a thumbs up to her lawyer after the judge had left. She then hugged wellwishers including members of her family.
News Corp Australia’s Sophie Ellsworth, who was in court, said that many of Kerr’s supporters in the public gallery broke down in tears as the verdict was read out – including her fiancee Kristie Mewis.
Not Kerr, however.
As the court heard ugly details about her behaviour during the fateful night she and Mewis went out partying on Oxford Street in an exclusive London district, Kerr is reported to have maintained her composure.
Revealed: Judge’s warning to Kerr as police, Matildas superstar react to not guilty verdict
‘It’s f***ing scary’: How full 34-min police tape changed my mind on Kerr — Comment
Even as the court was shown 34 minutes of footage captured on police constable Stephen Lovell’s body camera — which showed her launching into a vulgar rant in the middle of her conversation with the officer at Twickenham police station in south-west London — Kerr held her emotions in check.
The only time the enormity of the trial got the best of her was when Mewis took the stand on Friday (AEDT), the ABC reports.
“The mask broke just once, when she was seen wiping away a tear as her pregnant fiancee Kristie Mewis gave evidence in the witness box,” the national broadcaster reported.
Mewis was also in tears when she took the stand for the first time on day four of the trial.
The American said the cab fracas was “like nothing I’ve experienced”.
“I’ve never driven a car that fast before. I immediately felt fear for my life,” the UK Press Association news agency reported her as saying.
“That was obviously very scary … I didn’t know if it was a kidnapping or if we were going to crash”.
Mewis said she deemed the taxi driver to be “dangerous” and there as “no reasoning with him”.
The court heard Mewis had broken a back seat window with her foot during the ordeal. It was the taxi driver who first made a telephone call to police.
When the pair were dropped at the police station by the taxi, Mewis said officer Lovell was “immediately dismissive”.
“We were saying we had been taken against our will, we couldn’t get out.
“He wasn’t believing what we were saying,” she said.
“In my opinion, (the police) were trying to change the story and make it into something it wasn’t.
“It felt a little bit like gaslighting … the story (they) repeated back was different or they were manipulating it back onto us.”
The West Ham star said Kerr was “speaking her truth” in the moment she called Lovell “stupid and white”.
“Subconsciously she felt that she was being treated differently. I’ve seen Sam be treated differently,” the 33-year-old told the court.
When asked by Judge Peter Lodder to clarify what she meant by “her truth”, Mewis said: “I think that she has been treated differently and spoken to differently for her whole life and I think that she was feeling the same thing that she has felt before and the things that I have seen.”
Mewis was reportedly overcome with emotion when speaking about Kerr’s character as a person.
Sam Kerr gestures towards police when speaking with police officer Lovell. Photo: The Australian.Source: SuppliedAsked by Kerr’s barrister, Grace Forbes, to describe her partner, an emotional Mewis replied: “Sam is so loving, she’s so humble, she would help anybody … that’s one of the things I love about her so much.”
Kerr told the court on Thursday (AEDT): “I believed (they) were treating me differently because of what they perceived to be the colour of my skin — particularly PC Lovell’s behaviour.
“The way he was accusing me of lying, and later arresting me for criminal damage even though Kristie said it was just her (who smashed the taxi’s window).
“At the time I thought they were trying to put it on me.”
In an extraordinary day in the stand Kerr casually revealed the sex of her yet-to-be-born child and dropped details of the couple’s wedding plans.
Mewis is due to give birth to their first child, a son, in May and the couple are planning to wed in December.
Kerr was challenged sharply by prosecution lawyer Bill Emlyn Jones and it was clear it was straining Kerr’s stoicism.
The Telegraph’s Kathryn Batte reported Kerr’s voice quivered at one point during the questioning.
“Kerr has always had a swagger on the football pitch, but the witness stand stripped her of any bravado,” the football journalist wrote on Wednesday.
“She was exposed and under scrutiny in a way she had never been before. She was vulnerable. Kerr’s voice was quiet, shy-like. On several occasions she had to be asked to speak up. “I’m really trying,” Kerr said at one point.
Sam Kerr holds hands with partner Kristie Mewis at Kingston Crown Court. Photo by Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images.Source: Getty Images“The forward managed to keep her emotions in check but Mewis, who is around six months’ pregnant, broke down on a couple of occasions while giving evidence.”
Kerr no longer needed to wear the mask when she walked out of Kingston Crown Court for the final time.
According to the ABC, Kerr turned to a court official as she left the dock for the final time and said with a smile: “I hope to never see you again”.
The smile, and any other form of emotion, was gone from her face shortly after when she walked down the courthouse steps guarded by a security figure and hopped straight into a black mini-van.
She did not respond to questions from reporters and cut through the mob of camera operators and journalists without speaking.
She has since posted a statement on social media.
“Following today’s not guilty verdict, I can finally put this challenging period behind me,” Kerr wrote.
“While I apologise for expressing myself poorly on what was a traumatic evening, I have always maintained that I did not intend to insult or harm anyone and I am thankful that the jury agreed.
“I would like thank my partner Kristie, my family, friends and all the fans for their love and support, especially those who attended court each day.
“I am fully focused on getting back on to the pitch and looking forward to an exciting year ahead for me and my family.”
The statement was punctuated with two emojis – a football and a baby bottle – showing where the Matildas star’s heart lies.
