A police officer who fired his Taser at a 95-year-old woman, killing her, will remain free on bail ahead of his sentencing for manslaughter.
Police Constable Kristian James Samuel White discharged his stun gun at Clare Nowland in a treatment room at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home in the southern New South Wales town of Cooma during the early hours of May 17 of 2023.
In a video played at his trial in the NSW Supreme Court, the 34-year-old officer was heard saying “fuck no” before shooting the great-grandmother in the torso.
Police and paramedics were called to the care home after Mrs Nowland took two steak knives from the kitchen before raising them at residents and staff and throwing one at a carer.
White pulled the trigger after just three minutes of negotiations to get Mrs Nowland to give up the remaining knife.
He hit his head on the ground when he fell and died in Cooma hospital a week later.
A jury unanimously found White guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday, and Crown prosecutors sought to put him behind bars a day later.
Judge Ian Harrison handed down his bail decision on Friday, ruling White could remain free ahead of his sentencing.
A leading criminal psychologist has claimed that a police officer convicted of manslaughter like Constable Kristian White (pictured) would be “terrified” of going to prison.
A jury found White guilty of manslaughter for using his Taser on 95-year-old grandmother Clare Nowland (pictured), resulting in her death in May 2023.
The officer’s defense lawyer, Troy Edwards SC, previously argued that a prison sentence for the police officer was not inevitable.
Evidence presented in court shows White would be placed in protective custody for his safety if he were jailed due to his status as a serving police officer.
“The prisoner would be classified as ‘non-protective association,’ meaning he will not be in the physical presence of other inmates at any time,” wrote Detective Sergeant Mitchell Bosworth of the Homicide Squad.
White’s employment has been suspended without pay while NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb carries out the necessary legal procedures to remove him from the force.
His sentencing hearing is expected to be held in February.