Police officer found guilty of manslaughter over Clare Nowland's death

The police officer who tasered 95-year-old Clare Nowland in her aged care home has been found guilty of manslaughter over her death.

On 17 May 2023, Ms Nowland was holding a steak knife in a small office room at Yallambee Lodge in Cooma, NSW, while she used her mobility frame to slowly walk towards police officers, paramedics and staff standing in the corridor outside the room.

She did not drop the knife or stop moving when the officers repeatedly told her to, then was tasered by Senior Constable Kristian James Samuel White while he stood about two metres away from her outside the room’s doorway.

She fell over, hit her head on the ground and died from her injuries seven days later.

White, 34, pleaded not guilty to a charge of manslaughter when his NSW Supreme Court trial began earlier this month.

Jurors heard evidence for just over a week before closing addresses were aired on 19 November.

They retired at around midday on 20 November and deliberated for a whole week before they returned to the courtroom at midday on Wednesday (27 November) and announced they had found him guilty of the charge.

The jury was discharged before prosecutors applied to detain White in custody ahead of his sentencing.

“I will not commit a policeman to custody until I understand the conditions in which he is held if he is to be held,” Justice Ian Harrison said.

The application was adjourned to Thursday (28 November) and White’s bail was continued to that day.

Afterwards, the solicitor representing Ms Nowland’s family, Sam Tierney of Ken Cush & Associates, issued a statement on their behalf.

“The Nowland family were present in court today when Kristian White was convicted of the manslaughter of their beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother Clare,” he 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.”

White was one of the two police officers called to Yallambee Lodge that morning after Ms Nowland had been walking around the building with two knives.

Jurors saw closed-circuit television footage (CCTV) of her movements around the building before the tasering, as well as of police, paramedics and staff searching for her.

The tasering was also captured on camera. White can be heard saying, “Nah, bugger it”, before firing at the great-grandmother, who had been suffering from symptoms consistent with dementia.

He was asked why he tasered her when he testified in his trial.

“I believe she was posing a risk to not only myself but also Sergeant [Jessica] Pank,” he said.

“Clare had indicated her intent to us that she was going to use her knife on anyone that got near her.”

During the closing addresses, prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC said the jurors might think that no reasonable person in White’s position at that time would have considered that a violent confrontation with Ms Nowland was imminent.

He said White began pointing the taser at her while she was in the small office room behind a desk, then one minute later, she had only moved one metre.

While she held a knife in the air, the prosecutor said, “Everyone present was at a safe distance from her”.

“She was, in fact, not moving when the taser was deployed on her,” he said.

Defence barrister Troy Edwards SC said it was his client’s job “to obtain a resolution” and “he had to disarm her”.

“The people who were actually there told you time and time again that they were frightened that Mrs Nowland would use the knife,” he told the jurors.

He said his client had perceived a legitimate threat, which he tried to defuse through negotiation, then suggested grabbing the knife to disarm her, but those didn’t work. That was when he “ran out of options” and discharged the taser.

“The reason he did what he did was because he was worried that someone was going to be stabbed,” Mr Edwards said.

Earlier this year, Ms Nowland’s family settled a civil case against the NSW Government on confidential terms.