A jury has found a NSW cop guilty of manslaughter after he fatally tasered a 95-year-old grandmother who was holding a knife.
Senior Constable Kristian James Samuel White, 34, 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.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Police Officer Kristian White found guilty of manslaughter after death of 95-year-old grandmother.
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In video footage played at his NSW Supreme Court trial, he was heard saying “nah, bugger it” before shooting the great-grandmother in the torso.
Nowland, who was holding a steak knife at the time, fell backwards and hit her head before dying a week later in hospital.
A 12-person jury returned a verdict of guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday in the NSW Supreme Court.
They had been deliberating for 20 hours.
White was released on bail and is expected to be sentenced later in the year.
Images obtained by 7NEWS showed White leaving the Supreme Court on Wednesday afternoon and getting in a nearby car before it drove off.
Nowland family addresses guilty verdict
Following the decision, the Nowland family shared a statement responding to the verdict.
“The Nowland family were present in court today when Kristian White was convicted of the manslaughter of their beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother Clare,” they said.
“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.
“The family would like to thank the judge and jury for carefully considering the matter and the DPP prosecution team for their hard work.”
The jurors had heard eight days of evidence and submissions in the trial, including from the nursing staff, paramedics and White’s police supervisor who were there at the time he fired.
In closing submissions, crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC called on jurors to find White guilty, saying his actions were “utterly unnecessary and obviously dangerous”.
Nowland posed a limited threat and no one was in any imminent danger of being stabbed at the time the weapon was fired, he told the court.
However, defence counsel Troy Edwards SC argued that White’s use of force was reasonable and proportionate to the danger that the 95-year-old posed while holding the knife.
It was a police officer’s duty to maintain the peace and the 34-year-old senior constable did exactly that by protecting others from being injured, he told the jury.
— With AAP