Matildas star Sam Kerr raises ‘Claremont Killer’ fears in cop race court case
Sam Kerr has referenced one of Australia’s most notorious serial killers as she explained why she erupted inside a London cab. Listen to the call the Matildas star made to police.
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Matildas star Sam Kerr said she was treated differently by London’s Met Police because of the “colour of my skin” and it was “triggering” to not be believed after she had a drunken dispute with a taxi driver where she had never been so scared in her life.
The 31-year-old was cross examined at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) after she was charged with one count of racially aggravated harassment of British police officer PC Stephen Lovell on January 30, 2023 after she had an argument with a taxi driver over a fare.
Dressed in a white long-sleeved collared shirt, black pants and black shoes, Ms Kerr, who describes herself as white Anglo-Indian, at times held her fingers on her forehead and told the court she felt “embarrassed” after watching body cam footage of her from the night.
She said growing up in Australia race has “always been a touchy subject” and said she still believes two years on that the taxi driver tried to kidnap her and her partner, international football player Kristie Mewis.
Ms Kerr was asked by prosecution barrister Bill Emlyn Jones KC if she was “kicking off” during the cab ride where a dispute erupted after she vomited while in the vehicle and how good her memory was given she was drunk and passed out.
“Pretty good,” she said.
He then asked her why she couldn’t recall about 20 hours later when she was interviewed by police about calling PC Lovell “f---ing stupid and white” and only knew that she did so after later seeing body cam footage.
“I have since watched the body cam footage back multiple times,” she told the court.
The court heard Ms Kerr had been on a “date” with Ms Mewis, who is now pregnant with the couple’s first baby boy that is due in May, and they had dinner at Amazonico London in the exclusive suburb of Mayfair, before then attending a birthday party at nearby restaurant Bagatelle.
She said the pair, who are due to be married in December, shared a bottle of wine, had some cheeses and cocktails before then heading to a nightclub which Ms Kerr described as a “dungeon” and they left a short time later – around 2am.
After unsuccessfully trying to order an Uber three times the pair then hailed a Black Cab and were picked up in London’s famous Oxford Street to make their way back to Ms Kerr’s home.
Ms Kerr told the court this was when she started to “feel sick” and was “spit vomiting out the cab”.
She said she had wound down the window to vomit outside the cab and then rested her head back on the window sill when the driver put the window back up which hurt her and his driving changed dramatically.
She said he was “swerving in and out of lanes” and “smashing on the brakes” and she felt “terrified”.
During the cab ride Ms Kerr said Ms Mewis used her boot to smash the back window of the taxi because they feared for their lives.
Ms Kerr later said to police she had broken the window to prevent Ms Mewis being held liable for the damage and potentially having her international football career put into jeopardy and missing out on playing in a team for the 2023 FIFA World Cup.
Ms Kerr said she fell asleep for about 15 to 20 minutes while in the cab and then woke up and both she and Ms Mewis did not have their seatbelts on and were “being thrown around” and repeatedly asked the driver to stop the car.
Ms Kerr told the court she is the “masculine” one in the relationship and Ms Mewis had become “very distressed, crying, quite emotional” when she said the taxi driver started to drive dangerously and she wanted to protect her.
Ms Kerr referenced WA’s Claremont serial killer case in Perth – close to where she grew up in Fremantle – and that the murders of young women possibly by taxi drivers in the case was why she rarely took cab rides and instead opted for Ubers.
A dispute erupted over Ms Kerr paying for the costs of vomiting while in the taxi and the taxi driver contacted police after the incident and was instructed to drive the pair to the nearby Twickenham station.
Ms Kerr said when she was interviewed by police at the station she felt “powerless” and the officers – all male – “had all the power in that moment”.
She said officer PC Lovell “had no idea about the power or privilege” he had when he was speaking with them inside the police station.
Ms Kerr later paid £900 (A$1800) for damage to the cab.
Ms Kerr will continue being cross examined on Thursday and Ms Mewis will also give evidence.
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Originally published as Matildas star Sam Kerr raises ‘Claremont Killer’ fears in cop race court case