A METROPOLITAN Police officer has said he was “determined to pursue” the prosecution of Chelsea footballer Sam Kerr after she called him “stupid and white,” a court heard today.

The Australia international is on trial charged with causing racially aggravated harassment to Pc Stephen Lovell during an incident in south-west London in the early hours of January 30, 2023.

It is alleged that Kerr, 31, and her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, had been out drinking when they were driven to Twickenham Police Station by a taxi driver who complained that they had refused to pay clean-up costs after one of them was sick, and that one of them smashed the vehicle’s rear window.

The women told officers the driver had been “acting in a crazy way” by driving very fast, repeatedly stopping and speeding up again, locking them in the car, and refusing to let them go for about 15 minutes, Kingston Crown Court heard as the trial continued today.

Footage from Pc Lovell’s bodyworn camera was previously played to jurors, in which Kerr tells Pc Lovell and Pc Samuel Limb that she and Ms Mewis were “very scared” and “trying to escape” the cab when they damaged the vehicle.

At the police station Kerr is alleged to have become “abusive and insulting” towards Pc Lovell, calling him “stupid and white.”

Kerr accepts making the comments but denies that they amount to the charge.

The Crown Prosecution Service originally decided not to charge Kerr, the court heard.

It was put to Pc Lovell that he only provided a statement alleging that Ms Kerr’s comments had caused alarm or harassment after that decision.

In his first statement to the CPS, the officer made no mention of the “stupid and white” comment having an impact on him, the jury was told.

Police submitted a request to review the CPS decision not to prosecute, and it responded that the outcome would be limited to an apology, the court heard.

Prosecutors later requested further evidence and a second statement from Pc Lovell was provided in December 2023, mentioning the alleged impact.

The charge was authorised later in December 2023, nearly a year after the incident.

The trial continues.