A police officer who tasered a 95-year-old dementia patient who fell and later died, faces an employment review after a jury found him guilty of manslaughter.
Senior Constable Kristian James Samuel White fatally discharged his stun gun at Clare Nowland in a treatment room at Yallambee Lodge aged-care home in the southern NSW town of Cooma during the early hours of May 17, 2023.
Gasps were heard and Mrs Nowland's family exchanged hugs at the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday as the 34-year-old officer was found guilty of manslaughter.
He did not say anything but closed his eyes and bowed his head as the jury foreperson delivered the verdict.
"It's a terrible tragedy and it should never have happened," NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said when asked later about the tasering.
She sent her condolences to Mrs Nowland's family.
Ms Webb confirmed White was still working for the NSW Police Force but that his employment was under review with a decision to be made within weeks.
In video footage played at his trial, the 34-year-old was heard saying "nah, bugger it" before shooting the great-grandmother in the torso.
Mrs Nowland, who was holding a steak knife at the time, fell backwards and hit her head before dying a week later in hospital.
The jury had deliberated for 20 hours before delivering its verdict, which White can appeal.
During the trial, crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC successfully argued the senior constable was criminally negligent or conducted an unlawful and dangerous act by firing the Taser in a move that was “utterly unnecessary".
In reaching its verdict, the jury rejected arguments by defence counsel Troy Edwards SC that the 34-year-old officer’s use of the Taser was a proportionate response to the threat Mrs Nowland posed.
On Wednesday, Mr Hatfield applied to have White taken into custody.
Mr Edwards opposed the move, saying a full-time jail sentence for his client was not inevitable.
Manslaughter carries a maximum 25-year jail term.
Justice Ian Harrison will hear the detention application on Thursday.
“So that there's no secret about it, I will not commit a policeman to custody until I understand the conditions under which he will be held, if he is to be held,” the judge said.
White did not say anything to reporters as he walked out of the courthouse holding hands with his fiancee.
In a statement issued through their lawyer, Mrs Nowland's family thanked the jury, Justice Harrison and the prosecution team.
"The family will take some time to come to terms with the jury’s confirmation that Clare’s death at the hands of a serving NSW police officer was a criminal and unjustified act," they said.
In March, a civil lawsuit filed by Mrs Nowland's family against the State of NSW was settled on confidential terms.
