Taser cop sentence ‘lenient’, but not ‘inadequate’, court says

The family of an elderly woman are “struggling” to comprehend how the ex-cop who said “bugger it” before fatally tasering her will not spend a single day in jail following a court’s finding that his sentence may have been “lenient” but was not “inadequate”.

Senior Constable Kristian White, 34, fatally tasered 95-year-old Clare Nowland at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma on May 17, 2023.

Mr White avoided jail after he was found guilty of manslaughter in November, and was instead given a two-year community corrections order and 425 hours of community service.

The Director of Public Prosecutions lost its bid for a harsher sentence when its appeal was dismissed on Wednesday morning, with the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal finding White’s sentence may have been “lenient” but did not satisfy the prosecution’s claims it was “manifestly inadequate”.

Mrs Nowland’s family said they were “struggling” to understand the decision in a statement shared by their solicitor Sam Tierney on Wednesday afternoon.

“While respectful of the Court’s decision, the Nowland family is struggling to come to terms with how the NSW legal system can allow an outcome in which a former police officer who was convicted of using deadly force on Clare, a vulnerable and defenceless 95-year-old lady, while in her home, can walk free without having spent a single day in jail,” the statement read.

“The Nowland family is grateful to the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions and her team for all their work in pursuing justice for Clare.”

Mr Tierney earlier said there is the potential for an application for special leave to appeal the decision in the high court, but that it was a matter for the DPP to consider.

He also noted there is still a coronial process to come, with “wider issues that need to be considered potentially by the coroner”.

Mr White had been responding to reports Mrs Nowland was being a “very aggressive” resident the morning he tasered her.

Earlier described as holding two knives, Mrs Nowland held a single knife and penlight when Mr White found her in an office about 5am.

He repeatedly told Mrs Nowland to drop the blade before saying “bugger it” and tasering her following a confrontation spanning less than three minutes. Mrs Nowland died in hospital days later.

Chief Justice Andrew Bell, Justice Anthony Payne and Justice Natalie Adams on Wednesday all agreed while Mr White’s sentence may have been lenient, it was not “manifestly inadequate” as the DPP contended.

“Conviction of the offence of manslaughter did not, in the exceptional circumstances of this case, mandate a custodial sentence,” the judgment stated.

“At first blush, the sentence imposed on the Respondent may be considered to be lenient but, as these reasons have been at pains to point out, the fact that an appellate court may consider a sentence to be lenient does not render it manifestly inadequate or plainly unjust.”

The court found sentencing judge Justice Ian Harrison did not make a mistake in determining that general deterrence – discouraging others from committing similar actions – had little or no role to play in sentencing, as there was no pre-meditation involved.

“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,” the judgement stated.

The court also upheld Justice Harrison’s finding that Mr White’s offending fell in the lower end of objective seriousness for manslaughter.

Mr White will continue to serve his two-year corrections order and, as of June, had completed more than a quarter of the community service hours required.

In their failed bid against Mr White’s sentence, the DPP had argued the sentencing judge made mistakes by assuming both parties agreed that Mr White honestly believed his conduct was necessary, in his assessment of objective seriousness, and in finding that general deterrence had “little or no role” or only a “minor” role to play in sentencing.

Crown prosecutor Sally Dowling SC last month claimed that Mr White did not give Mrs Nowland any “real chance to avoid being tasered”, while his lawyer, Troy Edwards SC, rejected claims Mrs Nowland posed no threat, arguing it was inconsistent with observations of the sentencing judge and witnesses.

‘Slap on the wrist’

Mrs Nowland’s family previously expressed their disappointment with the decision not to jail Mr White, with her eldest son branding it a “slap on the wrist for someone that’s killed our mother”.

Mr White said he was “truly sorry” and took “full responsibility” for his actions in a letter read to the court during his sentencing.

The former policeman, who lost his job as an officer when he was convicted, said there wasn’t a “single day” in which he didn’t think about the incident.

“Police face difficult situations and are required to use judgment and if they make mistakes, they are expected to answer them, which I believe I have,” Mr White’s letter stated.