- Australian police officer Christian James Samuel White has been found guilty of manslaughter for shocking a 95-year-old nursing home resident with a Taser.
- A Sydney jury deliberated for 20 hours before reaching Wednesday's verdict.
- White is out on bail and could face up to 25 years in prison when sentenced at a later date.
An Australian court on Wednesday found a police officer guilty of manslaughter for shocking a 95-year-old nursing home resident with a Taser.
After 20 hours of deliberation, a jury found Christian James Samuel White guilty at the Sydney trial. White is out on bail and could face up to 25 years in prison if sentenced later.
Claire Nowland, a great-grandmother who suffers from dementia and uses a walker, refused to put down the steak knife she was holding when a police officer fired a Taser at her in May 2023. Mr Noland was so shocked by Mr White that he fell backwards and died a week later. At the hospital.
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Police said at the time that Nowland's fatal injuries were caused by slamming his head into the floor, rather than by a debilitating electric shock from the device.
Senior Constable Christian White arrives at the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney on November 26, 2024. (Dan Himbrecht/AAP Image via AP)
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb told reporters after the verdict that Mr White's employment was under review and would be subject to legal proceedings.
“The court has found that Claire Nowland died as a result of the actions of a police officer. This should never have happened,” Webb said, adding that her “heartfelt condolences” go to Nowland's family. said. He added that the state police reviewed its Taser policy and training in January, but no changes had been made.
Video footage played during the New South Wales Supreme Court trial showed officers instructing Nowland 21 times to put down the knife, before White said, “No, you're in my way,” before pulling out the weapon. I heard it. The Guardian reported that White, 34, told the jury that he had been told that people who brandished knives were dangerous.
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But after an eight-day trial, the jury rejected White's lawyers' argument that White's use of the Taser was a proportionate response to the threat from Nowland, who weighs about 100 pounds.
Prosecutors argued that White's use of the Taser was “completely unnecessary and clearly excessive,” according to local news outlets.
The unusual incident has sparked debate over how state troopers use Tasers, an electrically incapacitating device.
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Mr Nowland, a resident of Yarlumbee Lodge nursing home in Cooma, is survived by eight children, 24 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
