Police officer who led to 95 years old spared prison

The former senior police officer will leave NSW’s Supreme Court on Friday, subject to strict conditions after killing 95-year-old Clare Nowland in the city of Cooma in southern NSW.

The 35 -year -old man fired his taser against his elderly woman after being called to Yallambee Lodge’s elderly care house in the early hours of May 17, 2023.

In handing over his decision, Judge Ian Harrison found that White committed a “terrible mistake,” but his crime fell to the extreme of seriousness when compared to other cases of manslaughter.

Shock gun shooting after just a few minutes trying to disarm Mrs. Nowland was illegal, dangerous and resulted from whites played or misunderstanding the situation, the judge said.

“A 95 -year -old fragile and confused woman actually represented nothing that could be reasonably described as a threat of any substance,” he told the crowded court.

Nwwland’s death was serious, Judge Harrison said in recognizing the sadness and anger his family felt as he fought to deal with the enormity of his death.

“Complete and absolute frustration and despair displayed by your family in the circumstances are easy to understand when things could have been so easily treated better,” he said.

However, White was only caught in the incident as a police officer who had been legally called for the service installation, the judge noted.

“He was forced to solve the situation … and could not have chosen nothing,” he said.

There were tears by members of Mrs. Nowland, while the former policeman was expressionless when his sentence was uttered.

White will have to be in good behavior and perform 425 hours of community service as part of your two -year community correction order.

In a letter to Nowland’s family provided to court, White expressed his sincere excuses and regret for what had happened.

“I take full responsibility for my actions – I felt and still feel horrible for what happened,” he wrote.

“I don’t expect you to receive my apology as a forgiveness and I understand that you suffer a lot.”

The former police officer was diagnosed with greater depressive disorder and post-stress disorder after the incident and will have to move from the small town of Cooma because of anger against him there.

Mrs. Nowland was holding a knife while using a walk and was ignoring the attempts of the team to disarm it before being shot with the gun.

The 35 -year -old police officer said “Nah, Bugger It” before shooting the taser’s barbs on his chest, causing her to fall and hit her head.

The great -grandmother suffered bleeding in the brain and died in the hospital a week later.

White was removed from the police force in December after the verdict of guilt, but he launched legal actions for a review of that decision.