An Australian police officer who Tasered a 95-year-old great-grandmother in a care home has been found guilty of manslaughter.
Kristian James Samuel White was found guilty of killing Clare Nowland, who had dementia and used a walking frame, by a jury in Sydney who deliberated for 20 hours before convicting the 34-year-old.
Senior Constable White, who could face up to 25 years in prison after his conviction at the Supreme Court in New South Wales, used the weapon against her in May 2023 after she reportedly refused to put down a steak knife.
Ms Nowland, a resident of Yallambee Lodge, a nursing home in the town of Cooma, fell backwards after being Tasered and died a week later in Cooma 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.
Video footage of the incident, which was played in court, shows officers telling Ms Nowland, who weighed about 100lb (45kg), to put the knife down 21 times before White discharges the weapon.
He says “nah, bugger it” moments before firing.
Ms Nowland was survived by eight children, 24 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren, ABC reported.
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NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb expressed her “deepest condolences” for Ms Nowland’s family and said: “The court has found Claire Nowland died as a result of the actions of a police officer.
“This should never have happened.”
The state’s police reviewed its Taser policy and training in January and no changes to it were made, she added.
White’s employment, however, is under review and is subject to legal processes.
White told the jury he had been taught that any person wielding a knife was dangerous, The Guardian reported, while his lawyers argued during his eight-day trial that his use of the Taser was a proportionate response.
