By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim
Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old great-grandmother suffering dementia, was walking around the Yallambee Lodge aged care facility in the NSW town of Cooma early morning on 17 May 2023, when the great-grandmother was captured on CCTV entering a kitchen area and picking up two small knives and a jar of prunes, before continuing around the centre, with the aid of her walking frame.
Attempts by staff to settle Nowland and take the knives from her were unsuccessful. So, the registered nurse called for an ambulance just after 4 am. But, as Nowland was armed with knives, police were too notified. And NSW police sergeant Jessica Pank and constable Kristian White attended the facility, along with paramedics, and headed for the nurses’ office, where Nowland was.
Captured on police body-worn video and CCTV, Pank and a paramedic were encouraging Nowland to put down the single knife she was then holding. Nowland made no acknowledgement of them but instead began pushing her walking frame toward the door to the hallway. The sergeant then moved towards her twice to attempt to disarm her, but Nowland twice raised her hand holding the knife.
Constable White then drew his taser, as Nowland continued shuffling towards the door with the aid of her walking frame. Nowland again raised her hand with the knife, so White activated the taser’s warning arc, while Nowland stopped in the doorway and again raised her knife.
White was then heard to say, “Nah, bugger it,” prior to tasering Nowland once in the chest and again in the abdomen.
Nowland then lurched forward before falling backwards and smashing her head on the ground. The elderly woman was then taken to Cooma Base Hospital, where her injuries were deemed nonsurvivable, and the great-grandmother was placed in palliative care and died seven days later.
Guilty of manslaughter
White stood trial before a jury over the unlawful killing of Nowland in the NSW Supreme Court in November last year, and a jury found him guilty on one count of manslaughter, which is an offence under section 18 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW).
Manslaughter is a lesser charge for murder, as it reflects the unintentional or accidental killing of another person, while murder is done with intent. And the offence of manslaughter carries up to 25 years imprisonment.
The ex-police officer was then released on bail prior to a 7 February 2025 sentencing hearing, which saw the Crown put to the court that White’s actions were “utterly unnecessary and… so obviously excessive a use of force that no reasonable police officer would have done it in the circumstances”.
The question last month related to the two alternative bases that the charge of manslaughter could fall under: manslaughter by unlawful and dangerous act or manslaughter by criminal negligence.
The Crown argued that ‘by criminal negligence’ should be made out, and it carries “a slightly higher degree of criminal culpability”, whereas the defence favoured ‘by unlawful and dangerous act’.
Manslaughter by unlawful and dangerous act has three elements to be proven: the death was caused by White’s deliberate act, and that the act was both unlawful and dangerous.
Manslaughter by criminal negligence involves six elements: a death occurred, the deceased was owed a duty of care, the person owing the duty of care committed an act which caused death, the duty of care was neglected, and therefore, it warranted punishment, because it fell far short of the standard of care owed.
“In my opinion, tasering Mrs Nowland was unlawful because it was not and could not have been reasonably necessary to use such force and that the use of such force was dangerous because it exposed Mrs Nowland to the risk of serious injury,” said NSW Supreme Court Chief Judge at Common Law Ian Harrison in his 28 March 2025 final findings.
“However, in my opinion, the jury would have inferred that a reasonable person in the position of Mr White would not have resorted to the use of a taser in the circumstances that confronted him.”
Sentencing considerations
In turning to the objective seriousness of the crime, Justice Harrison underscored that while no category of manslaughter is more or less serious a crime than any other, it is necessary to assess the criminal liability of the offender in order to sentence accordingly.
His Honour found the crime was “at the lower end of objective seriousness for crimes of its type” because the incident was neither “premediated nor planned” and the parties had no prior relationship. White was undertaking his lawful duty and had no choice but to be involved, and any misunderstanding or overestimation he made, did not increase the seriousness of the incident.
Further, White had no prior convictions, he was of good character and had expressed his remorse in a letter. As for deterrence, there was no need for a sentence to hold specific deterrence, or to prevent White from reoffending, while general deterrence, or preventing others from doing so, was neither necessary given it was unlikely a police officer would again attempt such an action.
The Crown argued the objective seriousness of the crime warranted a full-time prison sentence, whereas the defence argued that a community correction order (CCO), under section 8 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) was warranted.
Section 89 of that Act also allows the court to apply certain conditions and restrictions upon the offender whilst serving time in the community, which include having to serve up to 500 hours of community service.
A number of reasons were put to the court as to why a penalty other than imprisonment was warranted, which included White having suffered extra-curial punishment, or non-court ordered penalisation, in the form of losing his job over the incident, while imprisonment would be problematic for White, as he had been employed by the NSW Police Force.
White was also found to pose no danger to the community, nor any risk of reoffending, while the law in NSW considers that a CCO can be applied to the crime of manslaughter.
The imposition of community service was also raised to the court, as being possible under a CCO, as it would serve to provide punishment and denunciation in terms of the crime committed.
Orders of the court
Justice Harrison ordered on 28 March 2025, that White be placed on a 2-year-long community correction order, with the stipulation that he perform 425 hours of community service.
