Share and Follow

An ex-police officer spared jail for killing a 95-year-old woman didn’t give her “any real chance” to avoid being tasered during an encounter that lasted less than three minutes, a court has been told.

Then-senior constable Kristian James Samuel White fired his Taser at Clare Nowland minutes after being called to the Yallambee Lodge nursing home at Cooma in southern New South Wales.

She died in hospital a week after the incident in the early hours of May 17, 2023.

Clare Nowland, 95, passed away after she was tasered by a police officer.
Clare Nowland, 95, died after she was tasered by a police officer. (A Current Affair)

The 35-year-old was handed a two-year good behaviour bond and ordered to complete community service in March after a jury found him guilty of manslaughter.

Crown prosecutors appealed against the “manifestly inadequate” sentence when the case went to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal in Sydney today.

Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling SC argued that Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison made a number of errors when he decided not to send White to prison.

New South Wales ex-policeman Kristian White. (Sam Mooy)

She told the court Nowland suffered symptoms of dementia and relied on her walking frame to move around the building.

“All of the footage … shows how frail she was, how disorientated she was and how confused she was in the hours leading up to the events,” Dowling said.

The great-grandmother was “extremely vulnerable” at the time because she was tired, confused, frail and moved slowly.

She had no discernible reaction to his warnings or requests to drop the knife she was holding during the two minutes and 40 seconds interaction with White.

“At no time did Mrs Nowland advance brandishing the knife,” Dowling said.

She was stationary when he said “nah bugger it” and discharged the Taser at her chest, causing her to fall backwards and sustain a brain injury.

“(White) did not give her any real chance to avoid being tasered,” Dowling said.

“There were many other options available to him.”

Justice Harrison was wrong to conclude jailing White would be disproportionate to the seriousness of the offending, prosecutors claimed.

He also mistakenly found the police officer made a “terrible mistake” but his crime was less serious than other manslaughter offences, prosecutors claim.

In his judgment, Justice Harrison decided the need to deter other police officers from committing similar offences played “only a minor role” in his sentencing decision.

But Dowling believes he should have issued a strong warning to other police.

Nowland’s eldest son Michael slammed the sentence as “very disappointing” when it was handed down.

“A slap on the wrist for someone who’s killed our mother – it’s very, very hard to process that,” he said.

Nowland’s family attended every day of White’s trial and returned to fill rows of the public gallery during the appeal, which continues on Friday.

Share and Follow
You May Also Like
Rescuers carry the body of a newly recovered victim of a building that collapsed at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Death Toll Rises to 40 After Indonesian School Collapses

Indonesian rescuers searching for missing students after a prayer hall at an…

Trump Indicates Gaza Negotiation Talks to Continue for Several Days, While Rubio Urges Israel to Halt Bombing

US President Donald Trump said talks on implementing a truce for Gaza…
Tax return for individual. Australia tax settlement. Financial and business concept. Calculation and manual filling of the form. close up

Don’t Miss This Deadline, or You Could Be Fined Up to $1,650

Australians who have yet to lodge their tax return must do so…
Hebersham church fire

Fire Destroys Mormon Church in Western Sydney

A Mormon church in Sydney’s west has been gutted by fire in…
Famous Footwear Australia

Australian Women’s Shoe Retailer Closing After 25 Years in Business

Australian affordable shoe retailer Famous Footwear has announced it will shut up…
An ANZ logo on one of the bank's offices in Sydney.

Leading Bank Shares Unexpected Update That Will Disappoint Many

ANZ has become the third of the big four banks to strike…

Sydney Shooting: Multiple Injuries Reported After 100 Bullets Fired in Croydon Park

NSW Police say charges are yet to be pressed against a man…
Trump wants a new dollar coin so rare it's probably illegal

Trump Proposes a New Dollar Coin That Could Be Considered Illegal Due to Its Rarity

Donald Trump’s embrace of self-aggrandisement is a well-known part of his personal…