A police officer who unlawfully killed an elderly woman says he's "acutely aware" of her family's suffering after learning he will not spend Christmas behind bars.
Senior Constable Kristian James Samuel White fatally discharged his Taser at 95-year-old Clare Nowland in a treatment room at Yallambee Lodge aged-care home in the southern NSW town of Cooma during the early hours of May 17, 2023.
On Friday, the 34-year-old was allowed to spend at least the coming two months at home after a judge continued his bail ahead of sentencing for manslaughter.
In a statement released following Friday's ruling, White's lawyers said he remained devastated for Mrs Nowland's family.
"Since that fateful morning, Kristian has tried to deal with the legal case against him, whilst confronting the pain that discharging his Taser ultimately resulted in Mrs Nowland's death," the statement said.
"He never intended for Mrs Nowland to be harmed or injured.
"He has never lost sight of the fact that Mrs Nowland passed away and he is acutely aware that the Nowland family is deeply hurt by what happened."
Mrs Nowland's family are struggling to come to terms with the decision not to revoke White's bail following his conviction.
"The Nowland family are disappointed that the court has today refused to place Kristian White into detention after the jury found him guilty of Clare's manslaughter earlier this week," they said in a statement released through their lawyer.
"The family is struggling to understand why the court felt it was appropriate to leave Mr White on bail and free in the Cooma community without any real restrictions in light of that conviction."
In his decision, NSW Supreme Court judge Ian Harrison said it was not certain White would receive a full-time jail term for the crime, labelling Mrs Nowland's death "an error of judgment with fatal consequences".
"I should not want to give unwarranted hope to Mr White that he will avoid a sentence of full-time imprisonment or to cause distress or frustration to those whose reasonably available and strongly held view is that nothing less than such a result would be appropriate," he said on Friday.
"I am simply not comfortable making ... a decision as a bail authority with respect to Mr White based on a conclusion that he will be sentenced to imprisonment to be served by full-time detention."
In granting bail, Justice Harrison said he was acting on incomplete arguments before him about what punishment should be delivered.
White didn't react as the decision was handed down but afterwards shook hands with supporters and his legal team before leaving court without commenting.
Police and paramedics were called to Mrs Nowland's nursing home after the great-grandmother grabbed two steak knives from a kitchen and raised them against residents and staff before throwing one at a carer.
White pulled the Taser's trigger after only three minutes of negotiations to get her to put down the remaining knife.
He was heard in video footage played at his trial saying "nah, bugger it" before shooting Mrs Nowland in the torso.
She hit her head on the floor as she fell and died at Cooma Hospital a week later.
A jury unanimously found White guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday, triggering an attempt by prosecutors to have him placed behind bars.
Justice Harrison said the case was unlike any other he had encountered, adding Mrs Nowland's death resulted from White's misjudgment rather than acting out of anger or other malicious reasons.
"Ms Nowland's death resulted from what was on almost any view a failure by Mr White correctly to assess the seriousness of the threat confronting him or, on another view, a failure to recognise or appreciate that he was not confronted with a serious threat at all," he said.
Evidence filed with the court showed White would be placed in protective custody for his safety because of his status as a serving police officer.
White has been suspended without pay while NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb goes through the legal steps to remove him from the force.
The case has been listed for a sentence hearing on February 7.
