Kristian White was found guilty of manslaughter in November 2024 after fatally shocking Clare Nowland in May 2023. - Reuters/ Screengrab from Twitter
SYDNEY: An Australian judge sentenced a policeman who fatally tasered a "frail and confused" 95-year-old woman to do community service rather than jail time.
Nursing home patient Clare Nowland died in May 2023 of injuries sustained when senior constable Kristian White shot her with a stun gun.
White faced a sentencing hearing on Friday (March 28) after he was found guilty of manslaughter in November last year.
Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison said White "made what by any measure was a terrible mistake".
Victim Nowland was "frail and confused" at the time, the judge said, and posed "nothing that could reasonably be described as a threat".
Despite the deadly outcome, the judge found White's offending was on the "lower end of seriousness" for manslaughter -- and did not warrant jail.
Instead, White has been placed on a two-year good behaviour bond and must complete 425 hours of community service.
White was called to the nursing home in May 2023 as Nowland -- who displayed symptoms of dementia -- slowly roamed the halls with a steak knife.
After repeatedly asking for an agitated Nowland to drop the knife, White said "bugger it" and shot his stun gun, the New South Wales Supreme Court heard.
The great grandmother fell backwards, hit her head, and died in hospital a week later from a brain bleed.
Nowland reportedly weighed less than 50kg (110 pounds) at the time, and police would later describe her as "frail".
White pleaded not guilty, arguing he had taken legitimate steps to resolve a possible threat.
Police rejected accusations they had tried to cover up the scandal by scrubbing terms such as "taser" from an initial statement to media. - AFP
