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| Kristian White avoids prison for manslaughter of Clare Nowland, 95, after prosecutors lose appeal | Kristian White avoids prison for manslaughter of Clare Nowland, 95, after prosecutors lose appeal |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Former NSW police officer was found guilty of manslaughter last year and had been given a two-year good behaviour bond and community service sentence | Former NSW police officer was found guilty of manslaughter last year and had been given a two-year good behaviour bond and community service sentence |
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| Kristian White will continue to serve his sentence in the community for the manslaughter of 95-year-old Clare Nowland after a failed appeal by New South Wales prosecutors against the ex-police officer’s community sentence. | Kristian White will continue to serve his sentence in the community for the manslaughter of 95-year-old Clare Nowland after a failed appeal by New South Wales prosecutors against the ex-police officer’s community sentence. |
| In delivering their appeal judgment, the three justices stated that the non-custodial sentence imposed on White “albeit lenient, was not manifestly inadequate”. | |
| While a NSW senior police constable, White fired his Taser at the great-grandmother two minutes and 40 seconds after he arrived to a call out at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home in May 2023. Nowland fell, did not regain consciousness and died in hospital a week later. | While a NSW senior police constable, White fired his Taser at the great-grandmother two minutes and 40 seconds after he arrived to a call out at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home in May 2023. Nowland fell, did not regain consciousness and died in hospital a week later. |
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| The 35-year-old was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury last year and in March was handed a two-year good behaviour bond and ordered to complete community service. | The 35-year-old was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury last year and in March was handed a two-year good behaviour bond and ordered to complete community service. |
| After White was sentenced, the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions announced it would appeal against “the inadequacy of the sentence imposed in this matter”. | After White was sentenced, the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions announced it would appeal against “the inadequacy of the sentence imposed in this matter”. |
| Justice Ian Harrison, when handing down his sentencing decision in the NSW supreme court in March, said the incident “falls in the lower end of objective seriousness” for manslaughter and that time in prison would be “disproportionate”. | Justice Ian Harrison, when handing down his sentencing decision in the NSW supreme court in March, said the incident “falls in the lower end of objective seriousness” for manslaughter and that time in prison would be “disproportionate”. |
| At the time, Nowland’s family eldest son called it “a slap on the wrist for someone that’s killed our mother”. | At the time, Nowland’s family eldest son called it “a slap on the wrist for someone that’s killed our mother”. |
| The appeal was overseen by the chief justice Andrew Bell, justice Anthony Pane and justice Natalie Adams. The trio agreed on the finding that Harrison did not err in his assessment of the objective seriousness of White’s actions. | |
| They also found Harrison did not err in his finding that deterring White from offending again did not need to be a major consideration in his sentencing, given it occurred in the “confined scope of being a police officer” and was an “error of judgment”. | |
| “We do not live in a perfect world and errors of judgement, even ones as tragic and significant as that which occurred in the present case, regularly happen,” they wrote in a judgment published on Wednesday. | |
| “The sentence imposed, albeit lenient, was not manifestly inadequate.” | |
| Outside the court, the Nowland family’s lawyer, Sam Tierney, told reporters that the family was now considering the outcome. | |
| “They’ll need to consider why the court’s arrived at the decision that it has but they’re of course respectful of the court’s decision at the end of the day,” Mr Tierney said. | |
| Asked if there were other steps the family could take to appeal this decision, Tierney noted that an application for special leave to appeal could be made in high court. But he said that was decision for the DPP. | |
| He also noted the coronial inquest into Nowland’s death was yet to happen, and it would examine broader issues. | |
| Tierney represented the family in a civil suit against the state of NSW. They reached a confidential settlement last May. | |
| White was called to the Yallambee Lodge home after Nowland, who was displaying symptoms of dementia, was found disoriented in the middle of the night, walking around the property carrying a serrated knife. | |
| Nowland, who weighed just 47kg, could only move slowly with the aid of a walker. She was confronted by White, who ordered her to put the knife down. | |
| When Nowland did not comply, appearing not to understand the instruction, White said “nah, bugger it”, and fired his Taser at her chest, causing her to fall heavily and hit her head. | |
| Nowland died a week later in hospital after suffering inoperable bleeding in the brain. |