Appeal against 'inadequate' sentence for former police officer Kristian White who tasered 95yo Clare Nowland
Former police officer Kristian White (centre) was found guilty of manslaughter in 2024. (ABC News: Jamie McKinnell)
In short:
Kristian White tasered 95-year-old Clare Nowland inside the Yallambee Lodge aged care facility in Cooma in 2023.
The great-grandmother died from the injuries she suffered in the subsequent fall, and the former police officer was found guilty of manslaughter.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is appealing against the sentence, which allowed White to avoid jail.
A prosecutor has told a hearing in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal a former police officer gave a 95-year-old grandmother "no way" to avoid being tasered.
Kristian White, now 35, was found guilty of manslaughter by a Supreme Court jury last November, and in March was sentenced to a two-year community correction order and 425 hours of community service.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions filed an appeal against the sentence on four grounds, including that it was "manifestly inadequate".
The trial heard White, then a senior constable, had discharged his taser at Clare Nowland inside the Yallambee Lodge aged care facility in Cooma on May 17, 2023.
Mrs Nowland, who was using a four-wheeled walker, fell, hit her head and died in Cooma Hospital a week later.
Case required 'clear message'
Director of the Office of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling SC today said the sentencing judge erred in ruling White's actions fell at the lower end of objective seriousness.
"This was an extremely unlawful, dangerous act," she said.
"[Mrs Nowland] did not pose any immediate or imminent threat, and realistically there was no way she could have avoided being tasered."
Clare Nowland died in Cooma Hospital in May 2023. (Supplied: NSW Police)
Ms Dowling argued the sentence imposed did not properly take into account the victim impact statements made by members of Mrs Nowland's family, or the "broader aspect of harm" on the community.
"That sense of amazement that this could happen in the community, Your Honour, is something I wish to draw [to] your attention," she said.
Ms Dowling told the court police officers were entrusted with dangerous weapons.
"They occupy a trusted role in our community and they must take the utmost care to use those weapons carefully," she said.
"This case required a sentence that sends a clear message that an unjustified resort to force or violence when other options are available will result in serious criminal punishment."
During the trial, the jury heard White and another police officer responded to a triple-0 call made by Yallambee Lodge staff as the great-grandmother, armed initially with two knives, roamed the facility with her walker, entering other residents' rooms.
She was later found by paramedics and police officers, including White, in a nurses' room at the facility holding one knife.
Loading...After an exchange of about three minutes, during which officers tried to convince Mrs Nowland to drop the knife, White said "bugger it" and discharged his taser.
Ms Dowling today told the court that was "clear evidence of his impatience of her".
She said CCTV footage and police body-worn camera vision showed the great-grandmother was "frail" and "plainly incapable of moving very quickly".
'Heat of the moment'
Defence barrister Troy Edwards SC said the appeal should be dismissed, stating White held "an honest belief" that what he did was necessary to meet the threat he considered was posed by Mrs Nowland.
Mr Edwards challenged earlier claims from the Crown that staff at the aged care facility appeared relaxed about the situation.
"They were in fact significantly frightened and not relaxed and believed there was the potential for them and others to be injured," he said.
He said the limited weight the sentencing judge placed on imposing a sentence that acted as a deterrent was understandable.
"This is all in the prism of an honest mistake," he told the court.
"They're [police officers] not being trained to consider, in the heat of the moment, the sentence imposed in the courts on other police officers in the circumstances."
Chief Justice Andrew Bell, Justice Anthony Payne and Justice Natalie Adams will reserve their decision.
Kristian White was sentenced in March to a two-year community correction order and 425 hours of community service. (ABC News: Keana Naughton)