A police officer has been found guilty of unlawfully killing a 95-year-old woman who suffered from dementia after saying “fuck” and firing his Taser at her in a rural nursing home.
Great-grandmother Clare Nowland died from injuries suffered when police constable Kristian White, 34, discharged the gun into her chest at the 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 walker and holding a knife, before he said “fuck” and fired the gun at her.
Mrs Nowland, a great-grandmother, fell on her back and hit her head on the floor, suffering serious injuries.
Constable White faced trial in the NSW Supreme Court this month after pleading not guilty to manslaughter in the death of the 95-year-old man.
After eight days of testimony from witnesses and Officer White himself, the four women and eight men on the jury retired to consider their verdict on Wednesday.
After four days of deliberation, the jury found Officer White guilty of unlawfully killing Ms. Nowland, either by criminal negligence or by a dangerous or criminal act.
The police officer will face sentencing later this year.
Police officer Kristian White (pictured with his wife) has been found guilty of the manslaughter of 95-year-old Clare Nowland after the jury deliberated for four days.
Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old great-grandmother, died a week after being hit by Officer White’s Taser at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home.
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC convinced the jury that Constable White breached the duty of care he owed the grandmother because his actions “involved such a high risk that (she) would suffer really serious bodily harm”.
Hatfield argued that the Taser discharge was a disproportionate response to the situation, given the great-grandmother’s advanced age, frailty, lack of mobility and symptoms of dementia.
“This was such a completely unnecessary and obviously excessive use of force against Ms. Nowland that she deserves a punishment for involuntary manslaughter,” he told jurors during his closing statement Tuesday.
In returning a guilty verdict, the jury rejected the defense put forward by Constable White’s lawyer, Troy Edwards SC, that the response was proportionate to the threat posed by Mrs Nowland carrying a knife.
He maintained that Officer White’s decision to use his Taser was consistent 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” holding two knives.
The court heard that Mrs Nowland entered the rooms of four residents before her arrival, shortly before 5am, and threw a knife at one of the nursing home staff.
“It is not true that the defendant could have turned around… It was his job to get a resolution,” Edwards said in his closing statement Tuesday.
Mrs Nowland was holding one of the steak knives pictured when she was Tasered. He fell backwards and hit his head during the incident and died in hospital a week later.
Officer White (pictured arriving at court last week) will be sentenced at a later date.
“He had to take it apart.”
Mr. Hatfield dismissed the defense and told jurors they could take Officer White’s words “fuck it” as showing he was “fed up, impatient, not willing to wait any longer.”
Officer White’s interaction with Ms. Nowland lasted less than three minutes, one of which was spent pointing a Taser at her before pulling the trigger.
The jury heard that the great-grandmother had difficulty following instructions and became unusually aggressive before her death, which a geriatrician attributed to her undiagnosed dementia.
He weighed less than 48kg and relied on his walker to get 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.