The trial of a police officer accused of Tasering a 95-year-old woman to death at a nursing home was abruptly halted after a juror fainted during the proceedings.
Clare Nowland, 95, was fatally injured in the early hours of May 17 when police constable Kristian James Samuel White discharged his Taser into her chest at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma.
The police officer has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and is contesting the claim during a weeks-long trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court.
The trial came to a sudden halt around lunchtime Tuesday when a juror fainted in the jury box and fell to the floor.
He was attended by court bailiffs before Judge Ian Harrison adjourned the session.
After an hour, an ambulance was seen parked outside the New South Wales Supreme Court, where the jury collapsed.
It came more than an hour after jurors were shown footage from body cameras worn by Officer White and his colleague when they responded to a call from the nursing home just before 5 a.m.
The videos show Ms Nowland sitting in her pajamas in a room, in front of a desk, using her four-wheeled walker and holding a knife.
Clare Nowland, 95, was fatally injured in the early hours of May 17 when police officer Kristian James Samuel White (pictured) discharged his Taser into her chest.
Clare Nowland, 95, died in May 2023 after she was shot with a Taser in a nursing home.
The two police officers are gathered at the door with two paramedics, all of whom urge Mrs Nowland to remain seated and put down the knife.
In the footage, Mrs Nowland struggles to stand with the help of her walker and raises the knife when someone approaches her.
“We’re not going to play that game, Clare, stop that,” Agent White tells her.
-Clare, stop now. Do you see this? It’s a Taser.’
In the video, Officer White can be heard activating the Taser warning device and the beam of light is aimed at Ms. Nowland.
“If you keep coming, they’re going to shoot you,” he told him.
Officer White repeatedly asks Ms. Nowland to stop as the nonagenarian continues to slowly walk toward them with both hands on her walker.
‘Arrest. “No, just…fuck it,” the police officer said before firing his Taser into his chest.
The woman’s frail body staggered and fell forward before staggering backwards and crashing to the ground.
Mrs Nowland’s daughter Lesley Lloyd (right) leaves the court after giving evidence.
Mrs Lloyd is pictured arriving at court alongside her siblings and supporters on Tuesday.
Officer White was supported by his wife in court on Tuesday (both pictured)
During opening statements the court was informed that he suffered serious injuries that caused his death days later.
Gasps were heard throughout the courtroom as the great-grandmother fell to the floor in the graphic images and several members of her family wiped away tears.
Agent White’s footage shows the 95-year-old woman clutching her head as she lies on the ground, barely moving.
Both officers ran forward as Mrs. Nowland lay on the ground, while Officer White kept an arm on the woman’s shoulder.
“I didn’t expect it to be like this,” his colleague said as they stood next to the old woman.
“I was thinking I could grab it, but it was too sharp and pointed at me.”
“I’d rather not have to…” Agent White responded.
The confrontation lasted three minutes and will form the basis of the trial, Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC told the court on Monday.
In his opening statement on Monday, he argued that Officer White’s conduct amounted to manslaughter because he breached his duty of care and exposed Ms Nowland to serious risk.
The Crown prosecutor said he expected evidence to be presented about a conversation Officer White allegedly had with a colleague after the incident.
A photograph of two steak knives and a pen lamp at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home in the southern New South Wales town of Cooma has been tendered into evidence.
“I’ve taken a look and we’re not supposed to Taser older people, but in these circumstances I needed it,” he allegedly said.
Constable White’s barrister, Troy Edwards SC, said his client acted in accordance with his duties as a police officer to “stop the threat and counter the risk” Ms Nowland posed to herself and others while holding a knife.
In a written report of the incident that day, he said the police officer recorded that he used his police-issued Taser because he felt a “violent confrontation was imminent.”
The court was told the 34-year-old man had been aware of a previous violent incident involving Mrs Nowland when he responded to the call.
Mrs Nowland was suffering from symptoms of dementia but had not been formally diagnosed, the jury was told on Monday.
In the two hours before the fatal incident, the court was told the great-grandmother had been wandering around the nursing home holding two knives. He threw one of the knives at a staff member, but it landed on the floor.
The incident prompted a nurse to call triple-0, which sent an ambulance and notified police due to the involvement of a knife.
Mrs. Nowland is survived by eight children, 24 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.
