Twist for cop accused of killing Clare Nowland
Senior Constable Kristian James Samuel White, 33, who was accused of killing 95-year-old Clare Nowland with a taser at an aged care home in Cooma, regional NSW has been deemed a “flight risk”.
White was charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and common assault over the alleged “excessive use of force”.
It is alleged that Nowland was using a walker and holding a serrated steak knife at the time of the incident, when the 33-year-old said “stop, just … nah bugger it” before allegedly tasering her.
The great-grandmother fell backwards and fractured her skull, causing an inoperable brain injury that unfortunately led to her death just days later.
Just last week, White's charges were upgraded to include an additional charge of manslaughter on advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
White appeared in court on Wednesday, for the first time since his charges were upgraded, and received two new bail conditions.
The Constable was required to surrender his passport and not leave the country due to the upgraded charges.
However, prior to his bail conditions being approved, Magistrate Roger Clisdell criticised both Crown prosecutor Victoria Garrity, and White's defence lawyer Warwick Anderson for negotiating the new terms of bail without his input.
“I make the decision,” he said.
“I would have thought my last explosion would have caused you to be more sensitive to my position.”
This comes after the prosecutors failed to tell the Magistrate that they had agreed to allow White to appear in court via video link in May, without the court's consent.
The Crown prosecutor defended her actions by saying that she asked him to surrender his passport to mitigate the risk of flight.
“With the more serious charge now being faced, there is a heightened risk that he would leave the jurisdiction and not face court,” she explained.
“Those two new conditions are now appropriate.”
While the police officer's defence lawyer added that “He has no intention of fleeing the jurisdiction," and agreed to the additional bail conditions “to facilitate the speedy resolution”.
White will return to court in February next year.
Nowland's family members released a statement via their lawyer after the proceedings on Wednesday.
“The family does not wish to comment further on the criminal process at this time given the extremely serious nature of the charge against Mr White, who continues to be a sworn NSW police officer,” the statement read.
NSW Police confirmed that White remained suspended from duty with pay.
Images: ABC News South East NSW: Floss Adams/ News.com.au