A former police officer, Kristian James Samuel White, who fatally tasered a 95-year-old resident at an aged-care facility, will not face imprisonment following a failed appeal by prosecutors. The incident occurred on May 17, 2023, at Yallambee Lodge in Cooma, New South Wales. During a brief encounter that lasted just over two minutes, White deployed his Taser on Clare Nowland, who was known to have dementia and weighed only 48kg. After being tasered, Clare fell, struck her head, and sadly did not regain consciousness, passing away a week later due to a fatal brain bleed.
Despite calls for a more severe sentence, the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal upheld the original ruling. Prosecutors argued that White deserved jail time, emphasising the need to send a clear message to other officers. They claimed the initial judgement by Justice Ian Harrison was “manifestly inadequate,” and that the necessity for general deterrence should have been considered more heavily in sentencing.
In the appeal, the prosecution’s case was presented by Sally Dowling SC, who stated that the impression given by Harrison’s sentence failed to acknowledge the seriousness of White’s actions. Conversely, White’s defence counsel, Troy Edwards SC, contended that the situation resulted from a genuine but mistaken belief by White that Nowland posed a threat, which led him to use the Taser. Edwards argued that the notion of deterring other officers from similar mistakes was unfounded, stating that officers operating under similar honest but mistaken beliefs would not be influenced by the sentencing outcome in White’s case.
Ultimately, the three judges from the appeal court sided with the original decision, allowing White to remain free despite the public outcry for accountability and justice in light of the tragedy that befell Clare Nowland. This case has sparked significant discourse regarding police use of force, especially against vulnerable individuals, and the implications for law enforcement protocols surrounding the deployment of Tasers.