Sam Kerr put in a cell on night of police incident as judge’s orders revealed
Sam Kerr has been given a warning by a court judge with new details of her late-night police incident emerging.
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Sam Kerr spent time behind bars on the night of her alleged incident with a police officer it has emerged.
The Matildas captain has pleaded not guilty to a charge of racial harassment of a police officer that resulted from an incident on January 30, 2023, in Twickenham.
About 3am on the night in question, the Chelsea striker allegedly vomited in a taxi, was involved in a dispute about the taxi fare, and allegedly called an attending police officer a “stupid white bastard”.
The Australian, however, has since reported Kerr’s legal team will argue she said the phrase “stupid white cop” during the incident.
Kerr had earlier that night scored a hat-trick for her team in the side’s 3-2 win over Liverpool to move into the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Kerr’s legal team is preparing to apply to have the case thrown out when the case continues on April 26 on grounds of abuse of process based on the 12-month delay before she was charged.
That delay was reportedly due to Crown Prosecution Service lawyers deciding what offence to prosecute her for.
Kerr was charged on January 21 this year, but Football Australia was only made aware of the situation last week when Kerr appeared at Kingston Crown Court via videolink to enter her plea of not guilty.
New details of the 2023 incident have now come to light with documents from Kerr’s March 4 appearance showing the 30-year-old was detained and spent time in a holding cell, The Australian first reported.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports Kerr was placed in a police custody suite inside a police station and was interviewed during that time.
News Corp reports Kerr’s legal team has requested for further video footage of the incident to be made available to them.
Kerr’s legal team is reported to have asked the Kingston Crown Court last week for any CCTV footage from outside a Twickenham station or from inside the custody suite to be provided to them.
According to News Corp, Kerr’s legal team is also yet to receive footage taken from two police body cam clips. Kerr’s team has also requested the audio that was recorded from the interview Kerr did with police while being held in police custody.
The trial is expected to get underway in February, 2025 and is due to last four days with two police officers to give evidence.
On Thursday, Kerr posted on social media for the first time since news of the allegations broke.
She shared details of this weekend’s London derby between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, which looms as a crucial clash in the context of the WSL title race.
It’s unclear if Kerr will attend the game given her knee injury.
Kerr given warning by judge
Judge Judith Elaine Coello said during Kerr’s plea hearing she understood that Kerr’s defence would be that she did not intend to cause alarm, harassment or distress to the police officer and that her behaviour was not racially motivated.
It has now been revealed Kerr was also warned by the judge about delaying any decision to change her plea to guilty — should that change of plea occur.
“Should there be any change in your position … the sooner you plead guilty to this matter, if that is your intention and your wish, the earlier you do that the better, do you understand?” Judge Coello said.
“You will lose credit as time goes on and should you be convicted after trial; you will lose all credit you might otherwise have obtained. Are you clear on all of that?”
If found guilty Ms Kerr could face up to six months jail or an unlimited fine.
Kerr remains on the sidelines after a serious knee injury that has left her with next to no chance of returning to fitness in time for the Matildas’ Olympics campaign in Paris, beginning in July.
Kerr, who became the first female footballer to appear on the front cover of the global FIFA 23 video game, has spoken out against racism in the past.
She and the Matildas team linked arms and posed with an Aboriginal flag ahead of their match against New Zealand. in 2021.
Kerr said at the time: “We’re very proud of it.
“We spoke a lot about it as a team. We wanted to do something that was important to us and show unity within our group.”
She is the only player to have won three different leagues and on three different continents.
Kerr was selected to carry the Australian national flag at Prince Charles’ coronation at Westminster Abbey in May last year, cementing her iconic status Down Under.
Originally published as Sam Kerr put in a cell on night of police incident as judge’s orders revealed
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