The senior constable who Tasered 95-year-old great grandmother Clare Nowland has been charged with manslaughter.
Ms Nowland, a dementia sufferer who weighs just 43kg, had been holding a steak knife when she ‘slowly’ approached a police officer at the Yallambee Lodge in southern NSW in May of this year.
Senior Constable Kristian White, 33, then blasted a taser on Ms Nowland, prompting her to collapse to the ground, knock her head and suffer a bleed to the brain.
Seven days after the incident her death was confirmed, with relatives saying she died surrounded by her family in Cooma Hospital.
The charge of manslaughter is in addition to charges laid in May that were recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.
In a statement on Wednesday, NSW Police said: ‘Following advice from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad have today laid an additional charge of Manslaughter against a 33-year-old Senior Constable attached to the Monaro Police District.
‘This legal process was served on the officer’s legal representative this morning.
‘The officer who remains suspended from duty with pay will next appear at the Cooma Local Court on Wednesday 6 December 2023 for Mention.’
Clare Nowland (pictured, after she participated in a skydive in 2008) had been holding a steak knife when she ‘slowly’ approached the police officer
Senior constable Kristian White White (pictured at a police parade)
Ms Nowland (pictured) tragically died after she was Tasered and suffered a bleed to the brain
The Yallambee Lodge in Southern NSW where the Taser incident occurred is pictured