A New South Wales police officer has been suspended from the force without pay after he was convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home with a Taser.
It came as Sen Const Kristian James Samuel White, who was found guilty by a jury over the death of Clare Nowland, returned to the supreme court on Thursday where prosecutors argued he should have his bail revoked.
White had used a Taser to shoot great-grandmother Clare Nowland, who was armed with a serrated knife and threatening police and staff, at her Cooma nursing home in May 2023. She died a week later from head injuries sustained when she fell backwards from the force of the Taser.
The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, told reporters shortly after the verdict was handed down on Wednesday that White had been on leave with pay from the police force and his employment was “under consideration”.
In a statement released Thursday morning, NSW police said White had been notified that he was suspended without pay the previous day.
“Regarding the officer’s position in the NSW Police Force, the NSW Police Commissioner is following the procedure mandated under the Police Act 1990, s181D,” the police statement said.
On Thursday, Justice Ian Harrison heard arguments from the defence and prosecution as to whether White’s bail should be continued and said “a sentence of imprisonment” for the police officer was “not inevitable”.
“These are weighty matters and I want to consider them in detail,” Harrison told the court, as he reserved his decision until Friday.
The crown had applied for White to be detained while his sentence was considered.
White’s defence, Troy Edwards SC, argued bail should be continued until he is sentenced, because his manslaughter offence was the “lowest end of seriousness”.
Harrison told the court that most cases he had dealt with involved “some form of intent” that is “nearly always coupled with one or other of emotions such as greed or punishment or revenge or passion”.
He said there was no intention to cause harm or serious injury in this case, “even though that was the outcome”.
“This case is different to any I’ve had to deal with in the past 18 years,” Harrison said.
