After an eight-day trial in the NSW Supreme Court, the jury began deliberations last Wednesday, taking four days to unanimously decide the 34-year-old Senior Constable was guilty of the manslaughter of 95-year-old Clare Nowland, after he Tasered her when she held up a knife up to him during an altercation in her Cooma aged care home, 114km south of Canberra.
The great grandmother to 30 children and grandmother to 24, was living with dementia when police were called to Yallambee Lodge nursing home to assist in May 2023.
Over a three-minute period, White issued several warnings to Ms Nowland as she approached on her walking frame, before he said "bugger it" and fired the weapon at her. Ms Nowland fell, sustaining head injuries, and was taken to hospital, where she died a week later.
White pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers argued his actions were in line with his duty as a police officer.
The jury heard Ms Nowland, who weighed only 48kg at the time of the incident, had recently become uncharacteristically aggressive.
In a statement through their lawyer, the Nowland family 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.”
White, who will be sentenced later this year, was released on bail.
