An Australian police officer who illegally killed an elderly woman with a Taser faces the possibility of being jailed in protective custody to protect him from attacks by other inmates.
Police constable Kristian White, 34, was found guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday following the death of 95-year-old Clare Nowland at her nursing home in Cooma, in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, in May. of 2023.
Prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC said the jury had found that White’s use of force was not reasonably necessary and that a jail sentence was now “truly inevitable”.
The grandmother, who had symptoms of dementia and weighed less than 100 pounds, was holding a steak knife when White attended with another officer.
A court heard White pointed his stun gun at the woman for a minute before saying “fuck no” and discharging the weapon, causing Nowland to fall backwards and hit her head on the floor and die in hospital. a week later.
White remains free on bail despite the guilty verdict and intends to appeal to the court to allow him to avoid any period behind bars, although prosecutors argued this was “inevitable”.
Criminal psychologist Dr Tim Watson-Munro said police officers who ended up in jail were often targeted by criminals who did not like law enforcement.
He added that the risk would be compounded for White by an unwritten “code” behind prison walls that “inmates take a very dim view of crimes against children and crimes against the elderly.”
“A person in his position will be terrified at the prospect of being imprisoned,” Dr Watson-Munro told Daily Mail Australia.
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.
Of the more than 30,000 inmates Dr Watson-Munro has assessed in prison, he said all police officers have been placed in high-security protective custody for their safety.
“People want to beat them, kill them or both,” he said.
He explained that protective custody was designed to lock up prisoners safely, separating them into different cells, maintaining yards and restricting their movements, there is still a “hierarchy” involved.
“In a case like this, where there is a police officer convicted of involuntary manslaughter, he would be given the highest level of protection because of the danger that even being in a normal protection yard could pose to him,” Dr. Watson said -Munro.
‘His life would be in danger, not only because he is a police officer, but because he has been convicted of killing an elderly woman with a Taser gun.
“It’s a cumulative double whammy and the danger to them would be quite intense for the duration of their sentence, whatever it may be.”
Although he believes it is “very unusual” for someone guilty of White’s crimes to avoid jail, Dr Watson-Munro said it would be possible if the court considered the risk to his life an “exceptional circumstance”.
He added that White’s release on bail pending sentencing is already an exception to the general procedure for those “guilty of manslaughter or murder.”
If granted bail, the conditions imposed on someone guilty of murder would likely greatly restrict their movements and freedoms.
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.
“I would imagine it would only be under very strict conditions which could include house arrest and daily reporting to the police,” Dr Watson-Munro said.
‘In principle, these people have very restricted freedoms of movement, etc. It will be an interesting sentencing hearing in terms of exploring those dynamics.
“But just because you’re a former police officer doesn’t mean you get any kind of official consideration in these situations.”
On Thursday, Judge Ian Harrison heard a request from Crown prosecutors for White to be put behind bars a day after a jury found him guilty of manslaughter.
He noted that he had not encountered a similar case during his 18 years as a Supreme Court justice.
“The majority of cases that come to me in the criminal sphere involve the commission of crimes associated with some type of intent,” Judge Harrison said.
“That intention is almost always accompanied by one emotion or another such as greed, punishment, revenge or passion.”
White’s actions occurred because he did not consider the reality of what was happening at the time, the judge said.
“They were not associated with the intention to cause harm or serious injury, although that was the result,” Judge Harrison said.
An officer in White’s position would be subject to a “double whammy” of security risks in prison as a former police officer and murderer of an elderly person, the psychologist said.
White would be assessed for risks to his safety if he were detained before his sentencing, NSW Department of Justice official Jeremy Tucker wrote to the court.
“Due to his occupation as a serving police officer, (New South Wales Correctional Services) consider Mr White will require special management in custody,” he said.
“I can inform you that Mr. White will be taken into protective custody.”
During the hearing, defense lawyer Troy Edwards SC argued that a jail sentence for the 34-year-old officer was not inevitable.
“A full-time prison sentence is not safe due to the nature of the type of charge,” he said.
White met the criteria for the Taser discharge, which meant the objective severity of the crime was on the low end, Edwards said.
Edwards acknowledged that the officer did not consider the exceptional circumstances test, which dictated when police could fire a Taser at certain groups, such as the elderly or disabled.
He said White was only told about this rule on a slide during training several years before the incident.
A sentencing hearing is expected to be held in February.
The manslaughter charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.