Police constable Kristian White to face appeal court in June over taser death of 95yo Clare Nowland
A registrar has urged swiftness for an appeal over former cop Kristian White’s sentence for the taser death of Clare Nowland, saying the prospect of jail must be “weighing on” him.
Police & Courts
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A Crown appeal against a decision to spare disgraced NSW police officer Kristian White jail time over the taser death of 95-year-old grandmother Clare Nowland has been set for June 27, with a registrar acknowledging the prospect of jail time must be weighing on the convicted killer.
Senior Constable White was handed a two-year bond and 425 hours of community service work in lieu of full-time jail in March, four months after a NSW Supreme Court jury found him guilty of manslaughter.
The court heard White said “nah, bugger it” before shooting Mrs Nowland in the chest with a police-issued taser as she grasped a knife in the nurses’ station inside the Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma on May 17, 2023.
Mrs Nowland, who suffered symptoms of dementia, used a four-wheel walker and weighed just 47kg, fell backwards when the taser’s prongs connected with her chest and hit her head on the floor. She was taken to hospital and died a week later from an inoperable brain bleed.
In sparing White jail, Justice Ian Harrison found his offending was at the lower end of the scale of objective seriousness.
He said White’s powerful subjective case, including prior good character, low risk of reoffending and the extra-curial punishment he’d already received by losing his career of 12 years, warranted a penalty of considerable leniency.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) lodged an appeal against the sentence days later, describing the penalty handed to White as “manifestly inadequate”.
They had pushed for full time jail during his original sentencing hearing, and will maintain that position on appeal.
The ODPP revealed the four grounds it would rely upon to argue their point in documents released by the court earlier this month.
The grounds of appeal stated the sentencing judge “erred in mistaking the facts by proceeding on the basis that it was agreed between the parties that the offender held an honest belief that his conduct was necessary”.
Claims the sentencing judge also erred in his assessment of objective seriousness and in “determining that general deterrence had ‘little or no role’ or ‘only a minor role’ to play in the sentence” were also listed.
In a preliminary hearing before the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal on Thursday, lawyers for both sides agreed to an appeal date of June 27, with an estimated length of two hours.
Registrar Peter Clayton offered an earlier date if the parties were available, saying he was “mindful that the question is whether Mr White may or may not be returned into custody”.
“I can only imagine that’s weighing on him,” he said.
However, the court heard the June date was the earliest all of the barristers involved were available.
Registrar Clayton made orders for the evidence and written submissions to be served on the parties and adjourned the case to May 29 for further mention to confirm the hearing date.
White was not present in court during the proceedings.
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