NSW police officer Kristian White has bail continued ahead of Clare Nowland manslaughter sentencing

A New South Wales police officer will continue to live in the community ahead of his sentencing, after he was convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home with a Taser.

Sen Const Kristian James Samuel White was found guilty by a jury in the NSW supreme court on Wednesday.

White, 34, had used a Taser to shoot great-grandmother Clare Nowland, who was armed with a serrated knife and threatening police and staff at her Cooma nursing home in May 2023. She died a week later from head injuries sustained when she fell backwards from the force of the Taser.

On Friday, Justice Ian Harrison ruled that White’s bail would be continued, under strict conditions, until sentencing submissions were made in February.

It came after the prosecution had applied for White to be detained while his sentence was considered.

White’s defence barrister, Troy Edwards SC, had argued his client’s bail should be continued until he is sentenced and invited the judge to consider that the manslaughter offence was the “lowest end” in terms of seriousness.

NSW police announced on Thursday morning that White was suspended from the force without pay after his conviction. His employment with the police force is still under consideration.

“Regarding the officer’s position in the NSW Police Force, the NSW Police Commissioner is following the procedure mandated under the Police Act 1990, s181D,” the police said in a statement on Thursday.

The section of the act referred to states that the police commissioner can remove an officer from the force if they “do not have confidence in the police officer’s suitability to continue as a police officer”.

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