Harrison said White’s training as a policeman ought to have alerted him to the reality that Nowland was a “frail and confused 95-year-old woman” who “posed nothing that could reasonably be described as a threat of any substance”.
“Sadly, they did not,” Harrison said.
Clare Nowland was Tasered inside Yallambee Lodge in Cooma in May 2023.
“Tasering Mrs Nowland was unlawful because it was not, and could not have been, reasonably necessary to use such force, and the use of such force was dangerous because it exposed Mrs Nowland to the risk of serious injury.”
The judge noted Nowland was “suffering from symptoms consistent with some form of cognitive impairment such as dementia” but had not been formally diagnosed at the time of her death.
He said she had mobility issues and was captured on CCTV that morning using her walking frame to collect two small knives from the kitchen and a jar of prunes.
Harrison said White’s decision to fire his Taser “was an error of judgment” but found it “falls at the lower end of the objective seriousness for crimes of this type”.
“Mr White completely, and on one available view, inexplicably misread and misunderstood the dynamics of the situation that he faced and patently overestimated the existence and the level of the threat created by Ms Nowland in the circumstances,” he said.
The judge said White was called to the nursing home in the course of his work, had been tasked with a lawful duty to reduce the risk and ensure the safety of others, and “could not have chosen to do nothing”. The incident was not premeditated nor planned, Harrison said.
“In all respects, he was a disinterested contributor to what happened,” the judge said.
He described White’s actions and decisions as “flawed”.
Alternatives to jail time
Prosecutors had pushed for Kristian White to serve prison time, given the seriousness of the offence and the effect on Nowland’s loved ones and the community. However, White’s lawyers asked the judge to consider all possible alternatives, including what would effectively be a good behaviour bond.
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, submitted full-time custody was “required” and a community corrections order (CCO) – effectively a good behaviour bond – was not an appropriate penalty.
He said none of the conditions that can attach to a CCO, such as a curfew or supervision by Corrective Services, have any significance in White’s case.
“It’s effectively no penalty … there’s no place for them to have any role (for) this offender,” Hatfield said.
An intensive corrections order (ICO), which is a sentence of imprisonment served within the community, cannot be imposed for certain offences, including manslaughter. Suspended sentences were abolished in NSW in 2018.
In submissions to the court, the Crown said White had Tasered Nowland within three minutes of first sighting her in an office of the nursing home, noting that she moved about one metre to the doorway with her walker in that time and only held up the knife when stationary.
Prosecutors argued the criminal punishment “must reflect the gravity” of his excessive use of force.
Defence barrister Troy Edwards, SC, urged the judge to find it would fall “at the very lowest end” of manslaughter cases.
Edwards said it was “very difficult” to find comparable cases, to which the judge replied: “Not very difficult, it’s impossible.”
‘I still feel horrible’
White, his police colleague and paramedics had responded to a nurse’s call from the lodge in the early hours of May 17, 2023, about a resident going into the rooms of others armed with two knives.
In a letter of apology to the court and Nowland’s family, White said he took full responsibility and was willing to accept the consequences for his actions on “that fateful morning”.
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“I understand that my actions were adjudged to be wrong and have caused great harm, not only to Mrs Nowland, but also the emotional pain it caused to others, and for that, I am truly sorry,” he said.
White said he understood it would bring little comfort to Nowland’s relatives.
“I felt and still feel horrible about what happened,” he said.
White, who was a senior constable, has launched proceedings in the Industrial Relations Commission seeking a review of NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb’s decision to remove him from the force.
Nowland’s children and grandchildren read victim impact statements to the court in February, in which they honoured her decades of volunteer work and adventurous spirit and described her death as incomprehensible and inhumane. They are expected to issue a statement after Friday’s judgment.
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