Prosecutors will appeal against a decision to not send the former police officer Kristian White to prison for the manslaughter of 95-year-old great-grandmother Clare Nowland after he fatally shot her with a Taser.
“After careful consideration of the judgment, the director has determined to file an appeal against the inadequacy of the sentence imposed in this matter,” a spokesperson for the New South Wales Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said on Thursday.
Justice Ian Harrison handed down his sentencing decision for the former police officer in the NSW supreme court on Friday, sentencing White to a two-year community corrections order.
The conditions include 425 hours of community service and reporting to a community corrections officer.
In his reasoning, Harrison said the incident fell “in the lower end of objective seriousness” for manslaughter and that sentencing White to time in prison would be a “disproportionate” sentence because White did not pose a risk or danger to the community.
He also noted that the offending occurred within the context of his duties as a police officer, and White’s access to a Taser was part of that role, therefore the chance of him deploying a Taser in a similar circumstance was “negligible, if not fanciful”.
White lost his job as a police officer when he was convicted.
In a letter read to the court last Friday, White said he was “truly sorry” and took “full responsibility” for his actions.
“I deeply regret my actions and the severe consequences they have caused,” he said.
White was convicted of manslaughter last year over the death of Nowland, whom he shot with a Taser at an aged care home in the southern NSW town of Cooma in the early hours of 17 May 2023.
White was called to the Yallambee Lodge home after Nowland, who was displaying symptoms of dementia, was found disoriented in the middle of the night, walking around the property carrying a serrated knife.
Nowland, who was frail, weighed 47kg, and could only move slowly with the aid of a walker, was confronted by White, who ordered her to put the knife down.
When Nowland did not comply White said “nah, bugger it”, and fired his Taser at her chest, causing her to fall heavily and hit her head. He fired his Taser within three minutes of seeing Nowland at the home, the court heard.
Nowland died a week later in hospital after suffering inoperable bleeding in the brain.
Nowland’s son, Michael Nowland, called the sentence on Friday after it was determined White would avoid jail a “a slap on the wrist for someone that’s killed our mother”.
Michael, after learning that White’s sentence would be appealed, told Nine News in an interview that aired on Wednesday that all the family wants is “justice”.
During the same interview, Nowland’s daughter, Leslie Lloyd, said: “He has taken a life, there should be some consequences for that.”
