Clare Nowland’s shattered family break silence as senior cop Kristian White is found guilty of tasered great-grandmother’s manslaughter

The grieving daughter of a 95-year-old woman who died after being tasered by a police officer has shared the last words she said to her mother after her killer was convicted.

Senior Constable Kristian White was found guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday following the death of Clare Nowland, an elderly woman with dementia, at her nursing home in Cooma in the NSW Snowy Mountains in May 2023.

Ms Nowland’s daughter Kerrie Paske broke down in tears outside the NSW Supreme Court after the jury returned its verdict.

It is the first time she has spoken in public since her mother died eighteen months ago.

She remembered sitting at her mother’s bedside in the hospital after the tasering.

“Only at the end did I tell her how much I loved her and thanked her for a beautiful life,” Ms. Paske said. A current issue.

“She left pretty soon after that.”

Mrs. Paske is one of Mrs. Nowland’s eight children. She said the jury’s verdict was “good news” for all of them.

Senior Constable Kristian White was found guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday after tasering Clare Nowland (pictured left with granddaughter Kylie)

‘We all think we have the best mother, she was a good mother. She was a tough lady,” Ms. Paske said.

“She didn’t deserve that, she really didn’t.”

Although Ms Nowland’s family have been largely silent since her death 18 months ago, they were quietly concerned that their mother’s memory would be tarnished by the fact she held a knife during the confrontation with police.

“At the very beginning of this trial they painted a real picture of Mom as a very mean kind of lady – at least that’s how I felt,” Ms Paske said.

‘That worried me a little, but she’s just not like that.

“It’s all well and good to talk about this knife, but she used to get fixated on things. It used to be pens.

“When we first heard (of the confrontation), I thought, ‘I bet she thought she had a pen in her hand,’ but she didn’t.”

Mrs Nowland is survived by eight children, 24 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren, many of whom made the 250-mile journey from Cooma to sit in the public gallery throughout the trial.

There were audible gasps and gasps from the public gallery where Ms Nowland’s loved ones sat together as the verdict was read out.‘

As she left court, one of Ms Nowland’s relatives said she was ‘very happy’ with the outcome.

One man punched another on the shoulder in a show of solidarity after the verdict was announced.

Their lawyer issued a statement outside court on behalf of the family.

“The family would like to thank the judge and jury for their careful consideration of the case and the DPP prosecution team for their hard work,” the statement said.

“It will take some time for the family to come to terms with the jury’s confirmation that Clare’s death at the hands of a serving NSW police officer was a criminal and unjustified act.”

Senior Constable Kristian White (pictured leaving court on Wednesday) has been found guilty of the manslaughter of Clare Nowland, 95, after the jury deliberated for four days

Senior Constable White’s employment is under ‘investigation’ following the guilty plea.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the officers had been suspended with pay throughout the proceedings, but the status was now under review.

“The officer’s appointment is currently under review. I expect to consider this matter next week,” Ms Webb told reporters on Wednesday afternoon.

She had not spoken to the officer after the verdict and said it would be inappropriate for her to do so.

She indicated she planned to contact the Nowland family.

“The death of Clare Nowland is a terrible tragedy and my deepest condolences go out to the Nowland family,” Commissioner Webb said.

‘This should never have happened.’

Ms Nowland died from injuries sustained when Constable White fired the gun at her chest at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home on May 17 last year.

Constable White (pictured) hung his head and kept his eyes downcast as the verdict was pronounced

The jury heard the 34-year-old gave several warnings as she approached him with both hands on her walker and a knife in hand, before he said ‘go ahead’ and fired the gun at her.

Ms Nowland fell backwards and hit her head on the ground, sustaining serious injuries.

After four days of deliberation, a NSW Supreme Court jury found Constable White guilty of unlawfully killing Ms Nowland either by criminal negligence or by a dangerous or criminal act.

He faces up to 25 years in prison, but was allowed to walk free pending sentencing later this year.

Judge Ian Harrison said he needed more information before jailing White, adding: “So that there is no secrecy about it, I will not take a police officer into custody until I understand the conditions in which he will be held, if he is held. .’

Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old great-grandmother, died a week after being struck by Constable White’s Taser at Yallambee Lodge nursing home

Constable White hung his head and kept his eyes downcast. His brow was furrowed, but otherwise he kept his face blank.

He was supported by his fiancée as he left the court and got into a waiting car.

The Crown applied to have Constable White remanded in custody after the verdict, but Judge Ian Harrison said he needed more information about the proposed custody conditions.

“To ensure there is no mystery about this, I will not take a police officer into custody until I understand the conditions in which he will be held,” Judge Harrison said.

The jury was persuaded by Attorney General Brett Hatfield SC that Constable White had breached the duty of care he owed to the great-grandmother because his actions ‘created such a high risk of actual serious bodily harm happening to (her) ‘.

Mr Hatfield argued that the discharge of the Taser was a disproportionate response to the situation, given the great-grandmother’s advanced age, frailty, lack of mobility and symptoms of dementia.

Ms Nowland was captured on CCTV moments before she was tasered

Ms Nowland was holding one of the steak knives pictured when she was tasered. She fell backwards and hit her head during the incident and died in hospital a week later

“This was such a completely unnecessary and manifestly excessive use of force against Ms. Nowland that it warrants a sentence of manslaughter,” he told the jury during his closing statement on Tuesday.

In returning a guilty verdict, the jury rejected the defense of Constable White’s barrister Troy Edwards SC that the response was proportionate to the threat posed by Ms Nowland carrying a knife.

He claimed Constable White’s decision to deploy his Taser was consistent with his duty as a police officer to protect others and prevent a breach of the peace.

Constable White and Acting Sergeant Jessica Pank were called to Yallambee Lodge to respond to a triple-0 call for help with a ‘very aggressive resident’ holding two knives.

The court heard that Mrs Nowland entered the rooms of four residents just before 5am and threw a knife at one of the care home staff.

“It’s not like the suspect could have turned on his heels… It was his job to come to a resolution,” Edwards said in his closing statement Tuesday.

“He had to disarm her.”

Lesley Lloyd, the daughter of Clare Nowland, leaves court after Wednesday’s ruling

Constable White arrived at the NSW Supreme Court last week with his fiancée

Mr Hatfield rejected the defense and told the jury they might consider Officer White’s words ‘bugger it’ showed he was ‘fed up, impatient, unwilling to wait any longer’.

Officer White’s interaction with Ms. Nowland lasted less than three minutes, one of which was spent holding a Taser at her before pulling the trigger.

The jury heard that the great-grandmother found it difficult to follow instructions and became unusually aggressive before her death, which a geriatrician attributed to her undiagnosed dementia.

She weighed less than 48kg and relied on her walker to shuffle around the care home, the court was told.