A veteran police officer who killed an elderly woman by Tasing her at a care home has been sacked from the force almost a week after his guilty verdict.
Senior Constable Kristian James Samuel White fatally fired his Taser at 95-year-old Clare Nowland in a treatment room at Yallambee Lodge in the southern NSW town of Cooma in the early hours of May 17 last year.
A jury found White guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday, with Crown prosecutors unsuccessfully trying to put him behind bars a day later.
The 34-year-old was dismissed from the NSW Police Force on Tuesday by Commissioner Karen Webb.
“I have determined that I do not have confidence in the officer’s ability to continue as a police officer,” she said in a statement, adding that White was informed of the decision through his lawyers.
Webb added that she also spoke with Nowland’s family to inform them of the decision.
Despite the guilty verdict, White must remain free on bail until at least February, when he will be sentenced.
Police and paramedics were called to Nowland care home after great-grandmother grabbed two steak knives from a kitchen and brandished them at residents and staff before throwing one at a caregiver.
White pulled the Taser trigger after three minutes of negotiations to get him to put down the remaining knife.
He was heard in video footage played during his trial saying “no, it’s fucked up” before shooting Nowland in the torso.
She hit her head on the ground when she fell and died in Cooma Hospital a week later.
White had been suspended from duty with pay during his trial, but was removed from the payroll a day after his guilty verdict.
The case was listed for a sentencing hearing on February 7.
