The officer rugged in jail for 95 -year -old

A former police officer has saved a prison sentence for his fatal decision to Taser, a 95 -year -old woman with symptoms of dementia in an Australian care home.

Kristian White said he had used the weapon to avoid a “violent confrontation” after finding Clare Nowland disoriented and holding a small kitchen knife in May 2023.

But the officer was found guilty of homicide For a jury last November, after prosecutors argued that their actions towards the great -grandmother, who then died of their wounds, were “very disproportionate.”

The case caused public protest, with the judge at one time saying that it was “different from any other that I had to face” for almost two decades in the bank.

Giving his sentence in the Supreme Court of Nueva Wales del Sur (NSW) on Friday, Judge Ian Harrison said that White’s actions in Yallambee Lodge in the city of Cooma, near Canberra, were a “terrible error.”

The “obvious” reality was that Mrs. Nowland was a “fragile and confused woman of 95 years” who “did not represent anything that could reasonably describe himself as a threat of any substance.”

“The simple but tragic fact seems to me that Mr. White completely, and in an inexplicably available vision, read and misunderstood the dynamics of the situation,” Harrison said.

The trial heard that White was called to the Care house around 04:00 on May 17, 2023, after Mrs. Nowland was seen wandering through the facilities with two meat knives.

The images of the body of the body showed that he warned Mrs. Nowland to drop the blades while he pointed her gun to her, before saying “Bugger It” and shoot. She fell and hit her head, triggering a fatal brain bleeding.

The defense highlighted the evidence of one of the paramedics and the White Police partner who said that Mrs. Nowland had made them feel scared for their safety.

But prosecutors had argued that Mrs. Nowland, who weighed less than 48 kg (105 lb) and used a walker to move, did not represent a threat and the officer was “impatient”, using his weapon only three minutes after facing it.

Mrs. Nowland’s family, at a sentence hearing last month, said the “unfathomable” and “Inhuman” actions of White had changed their lives forever.

“To this day, I am traumatized for this cowardly without dethlation,” said Michael Nowland, Clare’s eldest son, to the Court.

He described his mother as “the most affectionate person in the world” and said the family wanted justice.

White previously said to the Court that he did not believe that Mrs. Nowland would be “significantly injured” and that he was “devastated” by his death.

In a letter of apology to his relatives, White wrote: “I deeply regret my actions and the serious consequences they have caused, not only to Mrs. Nowland, but also her family and the great community.”

White had served as a police officer with the NSW police for 12 years before being withdrawn after his conviction.

Judge Harrison said that a prison term was not necessary, since White had already lost his job and had become an unwanted member of the local community, and does not represent a risk of recidivism. He added that it would also be difficult for a former officer to live in prison.

He condemned White to an order of two -year community corrections, essentially a good behavior link, and 425 hours of community service.

The death of Mrs. Nowland caused global outrage and drew the scrutiny about the use of NSW police force.

Commissioner Karen Webb described death as “a terrible tragedy” that should not have happened, but emphasized that the training and taser policies are appropriate.