Killer cop Kristian White who fatally Tasered an elderly granny will be protected in jail as court hears a jail sentence is ‘inevitable’

An Australian police officer who unlawfully killed an elderly woman with a Taser shot faces being taken into protective custody to protect him from attacks by fellow inmates.

Senior Constable Kristian White, 34, was found guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday following the death of 95-year-old Clare Nowland at her nursing home in Cooma in the NSW Snowy Mountains in May 2023.

Prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC said the jury had found White’s use of force was not reasonably necessary and a prison sentence was now ‘realistically unavoidable’.

The grandmother, who had symptoms of dementia and weighed less than 100 pounds, was holding a steak knife when White was present with another officer.

A court heard White pointed his stun gun at the woman for a minute before saying “no, crap” and firing the weapon, causing Ms Nowland to fall backwards and hit her head on the ground and she died in hospital a week later.

White remains out on bail despite the guilty verdict and plans to appeal to the court to give him the chance to avoid a prison sentence, although prosecutors argued this was “inevitable.”

Criminal psychologist Dr Tim Watson-Munro said police officers who ended up in prison were often targeted by criminals who hated law enforcement.

He added that the risk to White would be increased by an unwritten “code” behind prison walls that states “crimes against children and crimes against the elderly are viewed very poorly by prisoners.”

“Someone in his position will be terrified by the prospect of incarceration,” Dr Watson-Munro told Daily Mail Australia.

Of the more than 30,000 prisoners Dr Watson-Munro has assessed at the prison, he said every police officer has been placed in maximum security custody for their safety.

“People want to bash them, kill them, or both,” he said.

He explained that protective custody was intended to safely confine prisoners by separating them into different cells, holding them in courtyards and restricting their movements. There is still a ‘hierarchy’.

“In a case like this, where you have a police officer who has been convicted of manslaughter, they would provide the highest level of protection because of the danger that even being on a normal job site could pose to them,” Dr Watson-Munro said .

“Their lives would be in danger, not only because they are police officers, but also because they were convicted of killing an elderly woman with a Taser.

“It’s a cumulative double whammy and the danger to them would be quite significant for the duration of their sentence, whatever that may be.”

While he believes it is “highly unusual” for someone guilty of White’s crimes to avoid prison, Dr Watson-Munro said it would be possible if the court considered the risk to his life as an “exceptional circumstance ‘ considers.

He added that White’s release on bail pending sentencing is already an exception to the general procedure for those “guilty of manslaughter or murder.”

If he were granted bail, the conditions imposed on someone guilty of manslaughter would most likely severely restrict his movement and freedoms.

A jury has found White guilty of manslaughter for using his Taser on 95-year-old grandmother Clare Nowland (pictured), leading to her death in May 2023

“I would imagine this would only happen under very strict conditions, including house arrest and daily reporting to the police,” Dr Watson-Munro said.

“Generally speaking, these people have very limited freedom of movement and so on. It will be an interesting sentence hearing when it comes to exploring those dynamics.

“But just because you’re a former police officer doesn’t mean you get official attention in situations like this.”

On Thursday, Judge Ian Harrison heard a request from prosecutors to put White behind bars, a day after a jury found him guilty of manslaughter.

He noted that he had not encountered a similar case during his 18 years as a Supreme Court judge.

“The majority of cases that come to me in the criminal law area involve the commission of offenses involving some form of intent,” Judge Harrison said.

“That intention is almost always accompanied by some emotion, such as greed or punishment, revenge or passion.”

White’s actions came because he failed to consider the reality of what was going on at the time, the judge said.

“They were not associated with an intention to cause harm or serious injury, even if that was the outcome,” Judge Harrison said.

An officer in White’s position would be exposed to a “double whammy” of risks to his safety in prison as a former police officer and murderer of an elderly person, the psychologist said.

White would be assessed for risks to his safety if he were kept in custody ahead of his sentence, NSW Department of Justice official Jeremy Tucker wrote to the court.

“Due to his occupation as a police officer, (NSW Corrective Services) believes Mr White requires special management in custody,” he said.

“I can inform you that Mr. White will be placed in protective custody.”

During the hearing, defense lawyer Troy Edwards SC argued that a prison sentence for the 34-year-old officer was not inevitable.

“A full prison sentence is not a certainty due to the nature of the type of charge,” he said.

White met the criteria for discharging the Taser, meaning the objective seriousness of the offense was on the lower end, Mr Edwards said.

Mr Edwards accepted that the officer failed to take into account the exceptional circumstances test, which dictated when a Taser could be fired by police at certain groups, such as the elderly or disabled.

He said White was only told about this rule on one slide during training completed several years before the incident.

A sentencing hearing is expected to take place in February.

The manslaughter charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.