Australian cop faces prison after deadly Taser incident with 95-year-old woman
A police officer in Australia got guilty verdict for using Taser on elderly care home resident last year. The case brought up questions about police force use and sparked nation-wide discussions
In a high-profile case that shook Australia Kristian White got manslaughter verdict for using his Taser on a 95-year-old woman at a care facility: the incident happened about 1.5 years ago in Cooma (a small town near Canberra)
The victim Clare Nowland who had dementia was holding a steak knife when police came to check on her erratic behavior; the confrontation ended with White using his Taser – which led to her death in hospital
The New South Wales court jury spent almost seven days thinking about the case before making its decision. The max sentence for this crime is 25 years‚ and White could hear his punishment this week. Police Commissioner Karen Webb said theyʼre now checking Whites job status and mentioned: “Our equipment-use rules are good its about how people follow them“
This case fits into a bigger picture of police-conduct issues in the region:
- A cop was found guilty of assault on a 16-year-old Indigenous teen about 4 years ago
- Hundreds of music festival-goers are suing police for wrong strip-searches between 2016-2022
- The force did a Taser-use policy check in Jan but didnt change anything
