Cop ‘devastated’ after fatally tasering 95yo

Kristian White is on trial over allegations he fatally tasered Clare Nowland in a nursing home. Picture: NewsWire
Kristian White is on trial over allegations he fatally tasered Clare Nowland in a nursing home. Picture: NewsWire

A police officer has claimed he was “justified” in his decision to deploy his service Taser at a great-grandmother in a nursing home, but he was “devastated” she died afterwards.

Senior Constable Kristian James Samuel White is facing trial in the NSW Supreme Court after he pleaded not guilty to manslaughter following the death of Clare Nowland, 95.

The Crown prosecution alleges he breached his duty of care to Mrs Nowland and caused her unlawful death by either criminal negligence or a dangerous act.

The 34-year-old does not dispute that he discharged the weapon that caused Mrs Nowland’s death, but his lawyers argue it was a proportionate reaction to the risk she posed by holding a knife.

He and a colleague were called to Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma on May 17 last year to respond to a triple-0 call for help with a “very aggressive resident” who was holding two knives.

TASER COP
Senior Constable Kristian White has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

When they arrived alongside two paramedics, Constable White said Mrs Nowland “seemed confused” and was holding a knife with a 15cm blade and a “sharp tip”.

She was sitting at a desk in an administrative office with her four-wheeled walking frame when the officers located her after a search of the nursing home grounds.

Constable White said he thought they could use “speed and surprise” to disarm the 95-year-old by holding the knife down on the walker.

Yet when Acting Sergeant Jessica Pank moved forward, Mrs Nowland stopped shuffling forward and “raised the knife a few inches off the walker”.

“The movement of the knife indicated to me that she was willing to use the knife if anyone got near her,” Constable White told the jury.

He said he adopted a “sterner tone” with the great-grandmother, who had fixed a “very intense stare” on Acting Sergeant Pank after the failed attempt.

“I felt the threat had increased significantly,” he said.

Clare Nowland died days after she was struck by a Taser in a nursing home.
Clare Nowland died days after she was struck by a Taser in a nursing home.

The footage of the incident shows Constable White asking Mrs Nowland repeatedly to put down the knife before activating his Taser’s warning signals.

“You keep coming, you’re going to get tased,” he told her.

The 34-year-old said he continued warning the great-grandmother “because of her age, I wanted to give her every opportunity to comply with our directions.”

“And that was one minute?” Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC asked.

He pointed to the timestamp on the footage shows Constable White kept his Taser pointed at the 95-year-old for 60 seconds before he pulled the trigger.

The footage shows Mrs Nowland inching forwards with both hands on her walking frame before Constable White said “Stop, just … Nah, bugger it” and discharged the weapon.

“Got her,” he said as the 95-year-old fell backwards.

The court was told Mrs Nowland found it difficult to follow instructions and became uncharacteristically aggressive before her death, which a geriatrician attributed to her undiagnosed dementia.

Two steak knives and a penlight were seized from Yallambee Lodge on May 17. Picture: Supplied/NewsWire
Two steak knives and a penlight were seized from Yallambee Lodge on May 17. Picture: Supplied/NewsWire
There were holes in the pyjamas Clare Nowland was wearing when she was fatally tasered. Picture: Supplied/NewsWire
There were holes in the pyjamas Clare Nowland was wearing when she was fatally tasered. Picture: Supplied/NewsWire

She weighed less than 48 kgs and relied on a four-wheeled walking frame to move slowly around the nursing home at the time of her death, the jury has heard.

Constable White said he had been “weighing up essentially the danger that was present at the time” because Mrs Nowland hadn’t heeded the warning signal and the incident had been “going on for several hours”.

“Obviously it was not going to be resolved, to me, without a use of force,” he said.

“I didn’t want to Taser Clare but I had to weigh up the safety of everyone present.”

The 34-year-old said her “intent was quite clear” and she was “going to use the knife on us”, so he felt his “only option” was to deploy his service weapon.

“I understood it was going to cause her some sort of injury and pain, but I felt that the risk had elevated to the point where it needed a resolution,” he told the jury.

“It’s not our job to shy away from those types of incidents.”

The police officer said he didn’t think the 95-year-old would be significantly injured or die after being struck with the Taser.

Mrs Nowland fell backwards and sustained fatal head injuries after being tasered.
Mrs Nowland fell backwards and sustained fatal head injuries after being tasered.

When asked how he felt that Mrs Nowland had died after being tased, Constable White said he was “upset and devastated by it”.

“I never intended for her to be injured by it at all,” he said.

The 34-year-old was asked by Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC whether he had considered Mrs Nowland “frail”.

“I think you’re asking the proverbial piece of string question,” he replied.

“Not the frailest I’ve seen.”

He testified that he thought she would fall forward onto her walking frame because she had been “hunched over”.

Constable White said he had discharged a Taser twice before in his 13-year career as a police officer.

Constable White said he recalled telling Acting Sergeant Pank afterwards that he felt his actions were “justified”.

He said the pair had been writing up their reports on the incident when Acting Sergeant Pank mentioned “something about tasering or not tasering elderly people.”

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Constable White was supported by his partner in court. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

They looked at the operating procedures and Constable White said he told her: “To me, it was justified.”

“We sat down and discussed ‘Yes she was elderly’ but then I said ‘she was armed with a knife and walking towards us with intent, it appeared that she was going to strike out.”

“I thought that met the test.”

The court heard Constable White completed his police officer training in 2011 and has been working in Cooma since 2017.

Constable White’s lawyer Troy Edwards SC asked whether he remembered his training in relation to people armed with knives.

“Any offender armed with a knife is a risk, and a high risk or a danger,” the police officer replied.

“It was taught that you don’t underestimate anyone carrying a knife at all.”