For Sam Kerr, an ordeal that started more than two years ago is finally over.

The decision handed down by a jury on Tuesday means Kerr can put a protracted legal saga behind her, as she prepares to mark her return to football in the next two months.

For seven days over the past two weeks, Chelsea striker Kerr, Australia’s captain and a star of the women’s game worldwide, has battled past a scrum of flashing cameras, stationed outside Kingston Crown Court in south-west London, to attend her trial.

The 31-year-old’s case attracted significant media attention — especially from her home country — with a sizeable press pack waiting outside court every day for her arrival.

“Following today’s not guilty verdict, I can finally put this challenging period behind me,” Kerr said in a statement posted on social media on Monday evening.

“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 unanimously agreed.

“I would like to thank my partner Kristie (Mewis), 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 look forward to an exciting year ahead for me and my family.”

Kerr could never have imagined a date night in central London on January 29, 2023 with her fiancee, the United States international Kristie Mewis, would end up being dissected in forensic detail inside court nine of Kingston Crown Court just over two years later.

On the first day of the trial, extra seats had to be found to accommodate the large number of journalists covering the case.

The Sunday evening at the centre of the case followed a memorable day for Kerr, who had earlier scored a hat-trick for Chelsea in a 3-2 win against visitors Liverpool in the fourth round of the Women’s FA Cup.

The couple, who the court heard began dating in 2019 when Mewis “slid into” Kerr’s DMs, started their evening at their favourite restaurant, Amazonico in the affluent Mayfair district, before joining friends for cocktails and then finally heading to a nightclub, where they stayed for just 15 minutes before heading home to south-west London as it was a “bit of a dungeon”.

However, the driver of their taxi ended up calling the police to complain, saying they had refused to pay clean-up costs for Kerr’s vomit in his vehicle and after Mewis had smashed its rear window. The plastic barrier separating the passenger area from the driver was also damaged. Instead of dropping them home, he contacted the police and then drove them to Twickenham police station.

Kerr and Mewis told a different version of events.

After Kerr “spit vomited” out of the window of the taxi, the pair described how the atmosphere in the cab changed and the driver started to move the vehicle erratically.

They felt they were being held “hostage” and feared for their lives, citing the case of Sarah Everard, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a police officer in London in March 2021, which is why Mewis said she broke the rear window. They, as well as the driver, had also contacted the police.

When the taxi reached Twickenham police station, they said they initially felt relief but this turned to fear again when they felt officers refused to listen to them, described by Mewis as “gaslighting”.

It was at this point that Kerr allegedly became abusive, insulting, and referenced PC Stephen Lovell’s race.

On Monday last week, the first day of the trial, there was a collective hush in the courtroom as jurors were shown body-camera footage of the heated exchange that unfolded inside the police station that night.

This included Kerr saying: “You guys are f***ing stupid and white”, followed by “honestly, you guys are f***ing stupid and white. I’m looking you in the eyes, you guys are f***ing stupid. I’m f***ing over this s**t.”

With her comments having been caught on camera, Kerr did not deny saying these things.

“I don’t normally act like that, so I am quite embarrassed to watch that back,” Kerr told the court. “It’s hard to watch, not just because of the way I was acting, but to watch yourself in that much distress.”

She pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress — and it was on this that the case centred.

On Tuesday afternoon, on what was day seven of the trial, the jury cleared her of any wrongdoing.

When the news emerged, Kerr gave a thumbs-up to her lawyer and was later seen hugging her agent, Florian Schroeder, as well as her brother, Levi. Mewis was visibly emotional. Kerr later spent time with her family, including father Roger and mother Roxanne who had flown over from Australia, before making a swift exit through the media scrum.

Following the verdict, Judge Peter Lodder KC, said: “I take the view her own behaviour contributed significantly to the bringing of this allegation. I don’t go behind the jury’s verdict but that has a significant bearing on the question of costs.”

During the trial, Kerr, who was cross-examined for around five hours, said she felt she was treated differently by police officers that night based on “what they perceived to be the colour of my skin”.

Kerr identifies as white Anglo-Indian while her father is Anglo-Indian. Kerr said she was around nine or 10 years old when she first witnessed racism directed at members of her family. “I was quite confused, then sad,” she told the court. She said this later turned to “disappointment”.

She said she had been treated differently at times in life because of her skin colour. “At school, I experienced being in situations where teachers had instigated that I was the troublemaker, or had started trouble,” she said. Kerr outlined how she encountered racism on social media and got “followed by security guards or staff” at a shopping centre “if not dressed correctly”.

Kerr, who was repeatedly asked to speak up while in court, also told how she felt PC Lovell was using his “power” and “privilege” over her.

In court, Grace Forbes, defending, told how PC Lovell was alleged to have said, “Do you think a taxi driver, who is going to rape and kill you, would take you to a police station?”

To that, Kerr responded, “You’re sick.”

When asked why she said that, Kerr replied, “I thought he was making light of what had happened to us. I thought it was an antagonising comment.”

Asked by Forbes why she used the words “white” and “privileged” after her exchange with PC Lovell, Kerr replied, “It was clear to me he had no idea about the power and privilege he had at that moment, or in life, because the way he commented on what the driver could have done to me showed he has never experienced that or ever had to think about what can happen to you as a female.”

Mewis, who is now expecting a baby boy with Kerr, said her partner was “speaking her truth in how she was feeling; subconsciously, she felt like she was being treated differently, and I’ve seen it a lot.”

Asked to describe her partner, Mewis, who became emotional at times when giving evidence, 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. She’s so inspiring, she inspires me every day. I wouldn’t want anyone else to be the mother of my child.”

The court also heard character references, including from Kerr’s Chelsea team-mates Millie Bright and Erin Cuthbert, as well as Emma Hayes, Kerr’s former manager at the club and now head coach of the United States’ women’s national team. “Sam’s one of the warmest, friendliest, kindest and most considerate players I have ever coached,” Hayes said.

Elsewhere in the trial, Forbes suggested PC Lovell changed his statement to try to get a criminal charge over the line, something he denied.

This came after it was revealed the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service had initially decided not to charge Kerr.

Bill Emlyn Jones KC, for the prosecution, told the court how the “combination of being very angry and very drunk makes people behave as they would not ordinarily behave”, and that Kerr and Mewis’ suggestion of being “kidnapped or falsely imprisoned” in the taxi that night was “plainly based on a misunderstanding”. In any event, he said, what happened in the vehicle had no bearing on the case being tried.

He told Kerr she had no basis to accuse the police officers of being racist towards her, also pointing out how the taxi driver was Asian. The driver was never called to give evidence in court.

Emlyn Jones suggested the Australian footballer had given it the “big I am” when she told the officers in the station, “I’ve got all the f***ing people in the world” and “I’ve got f***ing Chelsea going on” — something Kerr denied.

In his closing remarks, Emlyn Jones asked the jury to imagine that PC Lovell was Black.

“Calling a white man ‘white’ is not as loaded as calling a Black man ‘Black’,” he said. “It does not carry the hurt and injustice of years, decades and centuries of personal and collective experience of prejudice. The fact remains that in the heat of the moment, this insult was delivered in reference to race, and that is what the law prohibits.”

After listening to all the evidence and having deliberated for just over four hours, the jury acquitted Kerr of any wrongdoing.

Kerr, who has been recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury she sustained in January last year, is expected to finally return to action in the next two months, when she can focus on football once more.

On and off the pitch, this has been a nightmare period for her. A guilty verdict would have cast a shadow over her name, seriously damaging her reputation. It would have thrown her position as Australia captain into doubt and there might have been repercussions elsewhere too, with decisions for Chelsea and her sponsors to make.

As it is, that outcome has been avoided and Kerr can get on with living her life again. More than two years since that fateful night out, and after seven days in a London courtroom, she can finally look forward again.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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