Fresh Sam Kerr detail emerges after alleged incident with police officer in the UK
The Matildas captain has been at the centre of a storm.
Sam Kerr reportedly spent time in a police cell on the night where it was alleged she called an officer a 'stupid white bastard'. The Matildas captain is charged with using insulting, threatening or abusive words that caused alarm or distress during an incident in Twickenham on January 30 of 2023 in which she threw up in a taxi after a night out.
Kerr has pleaded not guilty to the charge and will be back in court for a pre-trial hearing next month. And in a new twist, The Australian has reported Kerr spent time in a cell after the alleged incident. The new detail comes after The Australian also claimed Kerr and her legal team will refute that she said the word 'bastard' and instead said 'stupid white cop'.
Kerr had reportedly been out celebrating a win for club team Chelsea against Liverpool in the fourth round of the FA Cup, in which she scored a hat-trick of goals. She appeared in court last week via video link and pleaded not guilty to the charge of racially aggravated harassment.
The drama surrounding the Matildas captain has been huge after Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson admitted last week he didn't know about the incident until it hit the media. "First time I ever heard about it was this morning," Gustavsson said.
"I can make it very clear that today was the very first time I ever heard about it." The controversy around the incident has taken off with a debate emerging in Australia around whether what Kerr allegedly said can be regarded as racist.
Debate erupts over whether Sam Kerr's alleged slur is racist
Kerr's alleged incident has prompted a fierce debate over whether what she allegedly said can be regarded as racist. And a number of former Aussie footballers and politicians have weighed-in. NSW premier Chris Minns was asked the question last Thursday and he simply replied: "No."
Western Australia premier Roger Cook said: "I don't think it is racist. Sam is a great West Australian. She's done so much for Western Australian sport and so much for women and girls' sports."
Socceroos legend Robbie Slater weighed-in on the drama. “Without trivialising what she might have said, it sounds like something silly might have happened, it’s a bizarre thing,” Slater told Sky News Australia. “I’ve been called a lot worse I can tell you.
“I think Sam might have had a few too many on one evening and probably said something stupid, but a four-day trial – I mean you’d walk into Downing Street Court and I think you’d be out within the hour for something like this. You can’t trivialise racism, but like I said, I’ve been called a lot worse.”
But One Nation MP Tania Mihailuk did not agree and claimed Minns “would be leading the mob” if the shoe was on the other foot. “The premier has just endorsed racism. He also exposed himself as a total hypocrite, pandering to populism at the expense of sound judgement,” Mihailuk wrote online.
“How can a premier endorse the use of such inappropriate language – what message does this send to our kids from the leader of our state? If the comments were reversed there would be a riot, and the Premier would be leading the mob.”
Kerr's lawyers will reportedly seek to have the charge downgraded or dropped completely due to 'abuse of process' after it took police 12 months to lay the charge. Kerr was notified of the charge on January 21 this year and will head to trial in February 2025 if the case proceeds that far. She is due back in court in April for a pre-trial hearing. In the UK, harassment convictions can include a sentence of up to two years in custody when the offence is racially or religiously aggravated.
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