By Alasdair Pal
SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Australian police officer who killed a 95-year-old nursing home resident with a Taser was found guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday.
Kristian White was called to a nursing home in Cooma, a town about 90 minutes south of the capital, Canberra, in May 2023, after reports that resident Clare Nowland, who was suffering from symptoms of dementia, was acting erratic.
He hit Nowland, who was holding a steak knife, with his Taser, police said at the time. He later died in hospital.
The jury found White guilty of Nowland’s manslaughter after deliberating for almost a week, said a spokesman for the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the state where the incident took place.
He is expected to be sentenced this week. Involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison in the state.
State Police Commissioner Karen Webb said at a news conference Wednesday that the force was reviewing White’s employment following his conviction.
The force reviewed its policy on the use of Tasers in January and found no updates were required, he added.
“The policy and training are appropriate. The bottom line of this issue has to do with enforcement of the use of the equipment,” he said.
The case has caused outrage in Australia and highlighted the use of force by police in the country.
Nowland’s death came the same week that a police officer in the same state was found guilty of assault after an incident involving a 16-year-old boy from the country’s Indigenous community in 2020.
The state’s police force is currently being sued by hundreds of music fans who allege they were illegally strip-searched by police officers at music festivals across the state between 2016 and 2022.