A professional footballer, Sam Kerr, was recently acquitted of charges related to an incident where she allegedly made racially aggravated remarks towards a British police officer. Kerr, along with her partner, was involved in a situation where they were taken to a police station for causing damage and refusing to pay for clean-up costs after a night out. During the encounter with the officer, Kerr reportedly used offensive language towards him.
Following a trial at Kingston Crown Court in London, Kerr was found not guilty by a jury after deliberating for several hours. The judge highlighted Kerr’s own behavior as a contributing factor to the incident. Kerr expressed relief at the verdict and stated that while she regretted her poor choice of words, she never intended to cause harm.
Throughout the trial, Kerr denied using race as an insult and explained feeling mistreated due to her perceived ethnicity. Despite initial decisions not to charge Kerr by prosecutors, the case proceeded after a review process. The officer involved later claimed to have felt shocked and humiliated by Kerr’s comments in a statement made a year after the incident.
Sam Kerr, who plays for Chelsea, has been sidelined due to a knee injury. In a separate incident, Kerr and her partner faced online homophobic abuse after announcing their pregnancy, prompting backlash and condemnation from their club and team officials.