An Australian police officer who unlawfully killed an aged-care resident with dementia by shooting her with a Taser could be behind bars a day after a jury found him guilty of manslaughter.
Senior Constable Kristian James Samuel White discharged his stun gun at Clare Nowland in a treatment room at Yallambee Lodge aged-care home in the southern New South Wales town of Cooma during the early hours of May 17 in 2023.
In video footage played at his NSW Supreme Court trial, White was heard saying "nah, bugger it" before shooting the great-grandmother in the torso.
Nowland, who was holding a steak knife at the time, fell backwards and hit her head before dying a week later in hospital.
As the jury delivered its guilty verdict on Wednesday, he stood silent, closing his eyes and bowing his head.
Crown prosecutors immediately made an application to detain the 34-year-old in custody but Justice Ian Harrison postponed the hearing until Thursday.
He said he would need evidence about the conditions that White would face in prison given he worked for the police.
Officers are typically housed away from other inmates as they can be targets for criminals who have also been locked away behind bars.
On Wednesday, defence barrister Troy Edwards, SC, argued that a jail sentence was not inevitable for White, given the wide range of possible punishments for manslaughter.
The charge carries a maximum jail term of 25 years.
