Police officer guilty of manslaughter after tasering 95-year-old woman

An Australian police officer who shocked a 95-year-old nursing home resident with a Taser was found guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday.

Clare Nowland, a great-grandmother who had dementia and used a walker, was refusing to put down the steak knife she was holding when Kristian James Samuel White discharged his Taser at her in May 2023.

Ms Nowland fell backward after White shocked her and died a week later in hospital.

Police said at the time that Ms Nowland sustained her fatal injuries from striking her head on the floor, rather than directly from the device’s debilitating electric shock.

But after an eight-day trial, the jury rejected arguments by White’s lawyers that his use of the Taser was a proportionate response to the threat posed by Ms Nowland.

The prosecutor argued that White’s use of the Taser was was “utterly unnecessary and obviously excessive,” local news outlets said.

White, who is on bail, was found guilty of manslaughter and could get up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced later.

Senior Constable Kristian White arrives at the New South Wales Supreme Court, in Sydney. / Credit: AP

His employment is under review and is subject to legal processes, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb told reporters after the verdict.

“The court has found Claire Nowland died as a result of the actions of a police officer. This should never have happened,” Ms Webb said, as she offered her “deepest condolences” to Ms Nowland’s family.

The state’s police reviewed its Taser policy and training in January and no changes to it were made, she added.

Ms Nowland is survived by eight children, 24 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.