A former police officer who fatally Tasered a 95-year-old Australian woman after she refused his orders to drop a knife has been spared jail, with the victim\u2019s family decrying the sentence as a \u201cslap on the wrist.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kristian White was found guilty of manslaughter after shocking Clare Nowland with the Taser while on police duty in the early hours of May 17, 2023, in a case that sparked public outcry. <\/p>\n
Last November, a jury rejected his claim that Nowland posed a threat and found the former senior constable guilty of breaching his duty of care by deploying his weapon against the elderly woman, who later died of her injuries. <\/p>\n
Sentencing White on Friday, New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison said the former officer\u2019s actions were \u201ca terrible mistake,\u201d but that his crime fell at the lower end of objective seriousness. <\/p>\n
Police were called to Nowland\u2019s nursing home in Cooma \u2013 about 70 miles south of the capital Canberra \u2013 after the great-grandmother, who was showing signs of dementia, refused repeated requests by staff to surrender knives she was holding and return to her room. <\/p>\n
After responding to the call-out, White spent about three minutes trying to convince Nowland to put down a steak knife, before saying, \u201cNah, bugger it,\u201d and deploying his Taser. <\/p>\n
Nowland, who had a walking aid, fell and hit her head, fracturing her skull. She died in hospital a week later, surrounded by family. <\/p>\n
White was sentenced to a community corrections order for a period of two years, and 425 hours of community service. The order allows convicted criminals to serve their sentence in the community under some restrictions, such as curfews and alcohol bans. <\/p>\n
Harrison said in his sentencing that a jail term was not necessary given White had already lost his job and become an \u201cunwelcome member\u201d of the Cooma community as a result of his actions. <\/p>\n
Furthermore, he said, White does not represent a risk to the community or of reoffending. He said imposing community service work would be an \u201cappropriate and adequate method\u201d of meeting the sentencing conditions of punishment. <\/p>\n
White had served as a police officer for 12 years before being removed from his position following his conviction. <\/p>\n
Nowland\u2019s eldest son, Michael, told reporters outside the court in Sydney that the verdict was \u201creally disappointing for the family\u201d and was \u201ca slap on the wrist for someone that\u2019s killed our mother.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very, very hard to process that,\u201d he told reporters. <\/p>\n
Over the course of the trial, some of Nowland\u2019s children and grandchildren read victim statements to the court, describing her as the \u201caxis\u201d of the family. <\/p>\n
She had raised eight children alone but also had made time for others in her community, they said. Nowland also had dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. <\/p>\n
Michael Nowland told the court in February of his \u201cshock, disbelief and anger\u201d at hearing what had happened to her. <\/p>\n
\u201cI could not process how a normal human being, let alone a police officer, could possibly perform such an inappropriate and inhumane act on a frail, 95-year-old lady who weighed 47 kilos (103 pounds),\u201d Michael Nowland said. <\/p>\n
Gemma Murphy, Clare Nowland\u2019s daughter, said she\u2019d be forever haunted by the former officer\u2019s bodycam video, that showed the moment he deployed the Taser on her mother. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe irreverent footage of my mother\u2019s last moments has left an indelible mark on my psyche. It is a grotesque image that I cannot erase, made even more unbearable by the echoes of Kristian White\u2019s words \u2013 \u2018Nah, bugger it\u2019 and \u2018got her.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe utter disregard (White) displayed for my mum in her time of need and care will forever echo in my ears,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Several of Nowland\u2019s relatives told of their distress at the media coverage, with one of her daughters, Jennifer Jordan, describing how her mother, a \u201chumble, independent person,\u201d would have been \u201cmortified\u201d by the large attendance at her funeral. <\/p>\n
White was one of two police officers called to the Yallambee Lodge nursing home by staff who asked for help with a resident who was holding two knives. <\/p>\n
While the deployment of a Taser was unlawful and dangerous, Justice Harrison ruled that White made \u201can error of judgment\u201d and that his actions were motivated by an \u201chonest but mistaken and unreasonable belief about the existence and nature of the threat that was posed.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe simple but tragic fact would seem to me to be that Mr. White completely, and on one available view inexplicably, misread and misunderstood the dynamics of the situation,\u201d Harrison said. <\/p>\n
In a letter to Nowland\u2019s family provided to the court, White apologized and expressed regret. <\/p>\n
\u201cI deeply regret my actions and the severe consequences they have caused, to not only Mrs. Nowland, but also to your family and the greater community,\u201d White wrote. \u201cI understand that my actions were adjudged to be wrong and have caused great harm not only to Mrs. Nowland, but also the emotional pain it caused to others, and for that, I am truly sorry.\u201d <\/p>\n
White\u2019s defense lawyer Warwick Anderson told reporters outside court Friday that the former officer\u2019s family were \u201cvery relieved\u201d at the outcome, according to public broadcaster ABC. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re now going to take their time and move on with their lives,\u201d Anderson said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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