Police officer Kristian White who tasered great-grandmother Clare Nowland is discovered responsible of manslaughter
A police officer has been found guilty of unlawfully killing a dementia-suffering 95-year-old woman after he said ‘bugger it’ and fired his service Taser at her at a rural nursing home.
Clare Nowland, a great-grandmother, died of injuries sustained when Senior Constable Kristian White, 34, discharged the weapon at her chest in Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma on May 17 last year.
The jury heard he issued several warnings as she approached him with both hands on her walking frame and holding a knife, before he said ‘bugger it’ and fired the weapon at her.
Mrs Nowland, a great-grandmother fell backwards and struck her head on the floor, sustaining critical injuries.
After four days of deliberation, a NSW Supreme Court jury found Constable White guilty of unlawfully killing Mrs Nowland either by way of criminal negligence or a dangerous or criminal act.
He faces up to 25 years behind bars but was allowed to walk free from court ahead of his sentencing later this year.
Justice Ian Harrison said he needed more information before jailing White, and added: ‘So that there’s no secret about it, I will not commit a policeman to custody until I understand the conditions under which he will be held, if he is to be held.’
Audible gasps and sobs could be heard emanating from the public gallery where Mrs Nowland’s loved ones sat gathered together as the verdict was read out.
Senior Constable Kristian White (pictured leaving court on Wednesday) has been found guilty of the manslaughter of Clare Nowland, 95, after the jury deliberated for four days
Constable White (centre) hung his head and kept his eyes down as the verdict was delivered
Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old great-grandmother, died a week after she was struck by Constable White’s Taser in Yallambee Lodge nursing home
In a statement through their lawyer, the Nowland family said: ‘The family will take some time to come to terms with the jury’s confirmation that Clare’s death at the hands of a serving NSW police officer was a criminal and unjustified act.
‘The family would like to thank the Judge and jury for carefully considering the matter and the DPP prosecution team for their hard work.’
Leaving court, one of Mrs Nowland’s family members said she was ‘very happy’ with the outcome. One man clapped another on the shoulder in an apparent show of solidarity after the verdict was announced.
Constable White hung his head and kept his eyes down. His brow was furrowed but he otherwise kept his face blank.
He was flanked by his fiancée as he left the court and got into a waiting car.
The Crown applied for Constable White to be taken into custody following the verdict, but Justice Ian Harrison said he needed more information about the proposed custodial conditions.
‘So that there’s no secret about it, I will not commit a policeman to custody until I understand the conditions under which he will be held, if he is to be held,’ Justice Harrison said.
The jury were persuaded by Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC that Constable White breached the duty of care he owed to the great-grandmother because his actions ‘involved such a high risk that really serious bodily harm would occur to (her).’
Mr Hatfield argued the discharge of the Taser was a disproportionate response to the situation, given the great-grandmother’s advanced age, frailty, lack of mobility, and symptoms of dementia.
Mrs Nowland was captured on CCTV in the moments before she was tasered
Mrs Nowland, was holding one of the pictured steak knives when she was Tasered. She fell backwards and hit her head during the incident and died in hospital a week later
‘This was such an utterly unnecessary and obviously excessive use of force on Mrs Nowland that it warrants punishment for manslaughter,’ he told the jury during his closing statement on Tuesday.
In delivering a guilty verdict, the jury rejected the defence put by Constable White’s barrister Troy Edwards SC that the response was commensurate with the threat posed by Mrs Nowland carrying a knife.
He maintained Constable White’s decision to deploy his Taser was in line with his duty as a police officer to protect others and prevent a breach of the peace.
Constable White and Acting Sergeant Jessica Pank were called to Yallambee Lodge to respond to a triple-0 call for assistance with a ‘very aggressive resident’ who was holding two knives.
The court has heard Mrs Nowland entered the rooms of four residents prior to their arrival just before 5am, and she had thrown a knife at one of the nursing home staff.
‘It’s not the case that the accused could have turned on his heels… It was his job to obtain a resolution,’ Mr Edwards said in his closing statement on Tuesday.
Lesley Lloyd, the daughter of Clare Nowland, is seen leaving court after Wednesday’s verdict
Constable White is pictured arriving to the NSW Supreme Court with his fiacée last week
‘He had to disarm her.’
Mr Hatfield dismissed the defence, telling the jury they might consider that Constable White’s words ‘bugger it’ showed he was ‘fed up, impatient, not prepared to wait any longer.’
Constable White’s interaction with Mrs Nowland lasted less than three minutes, one of which was spent holding a Taser at her before pulling the trigger.
The jury heard the great-grandmother found it difficult to follow instructions and became uncharacteristically aggressive before her death, which a geriatrician attributed to her undiagnosed dementia.
She weighed less than 48kgs and relied on her walking frame to shuffle around the nursing home, the court was told.
Mrs Nowland is survived by eight children, 24 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren, many of whom sat in the public gallery throughout the trial.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb is expected to make a statement about the White’s conviction on Wednesday afternoon.
