Australian police officer who fatally tasered a 95-year-old great-grandmother sacked following manslaughter conviction
3 December 2024, 06:13
An Australian police officer found guilty of manslaughter after shocking a 95-year-old woman with a Taser in a nursing home has been sacked, New South Wales (NSW) Police confirmed.
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NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb confirmed on Tuesday that Monaro Police District officer Kristian James Samuel White had been sacked by the state force.
"I have determined that I do not have confidence in the officer's suitability to continue as a police officer," she said in a statement.
"Accordingly, I have removed him from the NSW Police Force and he has been advised via his legal counsel.
"I have spoken with the family of the 95-year-old victim involved in this matter and advised them of my decision."
The decision by NSW Police's most senior commander comes five days after a Sydney jury White guilty of manslaughter after 20 hours of deliberation.
Clare Nowland, a great-grandmother who had dementia and used a walker, refused to put down a steak knife she was holding at Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma in May 2023.
Despite the elderly woman being metres away and out of reach from police, nursing home staff or other care residents, White discharged his weapon.
Ms Nowland fell backwards after White shocked her and died a week later in hospital.
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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.
Last week, NSW Police confirmed White had been suspended from the force without pay.
He had been suspended by the force after the May 2023 incident but had still been receiving pay from the police force.
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, who weighed about 100 pounds (just over seven stone).
White, 34, who is on bail, could get up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced later.
