The conduct of police was “completely unacceptable” in dealing with Matildas and Chelsea star Sam Kerr when she arrived at a police station, her defence barrister told a court.

Kerr, 31, the captain of the Australian women’s football team and Chelsea’s star striker, is on trial at Kingston crown court accused of racially aggravated harassment after calling PC Stephen Lovell “fucking stupid and white” when he doubted her claim of being “held hostage” by a taxi driver. She denies the charges.

Related: Sam Kerr jury asked to consider difference if she had called a police officer ‘stupid and black’

Grace Forbes, defending Kerr, gave her closing argument on Monday morning. She described the conduct of police on 30 January 2023 as “completely unacceptable” after they failed to take claims by the footballer and her partner, Kristie Mewis about the taxi driver’s alleged dangerous driving and false imprisonment seriously.

After a night out, the pair hailed a black cab from central London back to their home in south-west London, the court has heard. During the journey, Kerr felt sick and vomited out of the window, sparking a dispute about paying for cleaning. After this, the couple claim the driver locked the car and began speeding and swerving, prompting Mewis to smash a window with a kick.

Unbeknownst to the couple, the taxi driver had rung the police, who told him to drive to Twickenham police station, the court was told. After he parked up, Kerr crawled out of the broken window and opened the car door from the outside to let Mewis out. The pair then approached a marked police car outside the station.

Forbes said the first “20 vital minutes” of Kerr and Mewis’ encounter with police were never captured on camera. Bodyworn footage shown to the court begins when Kerr and Mewis are inside Twickenham police station.

“Two individuals went straight up to a marked police car looking for help in a state of distress. How and why did we go from that to what was an utterly unproductive, heated, argument?

“It seems that no one thought that it was worth putting on their body-worn footage when they saw a woman climbing through a broken window, when they were making allegations of false imprisonment,” said Forbes.

She told the jury to treat the “one dimensional image” they had been presented of a “drunk and angry woman” with caution. The prosecution had played footage of Kerr saying “fucking stupid and white” to, in part, “capitalise on the shock factor” and wear them down after “hearing those words time and time again”.

Commenting on Kerr’s mention of lawyers in the exchange, Forbes said the footballer felt the “need to front it out” and compared her to “a puffer fish blowing itself up” to feel more secure.

Forbes described the conduct of police that night as “completely unacceptable”, saying the police officers “had made no meaningful attempt” to investigate the pair’s claims.

“Even if you are drunk, you can still be a victim of crime,” said Forbes. “PC Lovell conceded in evidence that their allegations were capable of amounting to dangerous driving and false imprisonment. Why did he say on the night what she had told him didn’t amount to any offences?

“No officer swept the vehicle for a device themselves. No one has ever bothered to take a witness statement from Kristie Mewis. No wonder the police have never heard from the driver again.”

She also cast doubt on the extent to which Lovell’s claims he was impacted by being called “stupid and white”, noting that no other officers “in that room claimed to feel impact”.

When PC Lovell was on the witness stand, she told the court, “four valiant attempts” were made to emphasise how much he was impacted. She said “the height of his feeling” was “that upset me I guess”.

The jury was later sent out to consider its verdict.