‘Our job is to maintain the peace’: Police officer defends tasering 95-year-old aged care patient

Senior Constable Kristian White was charged with manslaughter through criminal negligence.
Australian Associated Press
Senior Constable Kristian White. Photo: AAP

A police officer tasered a 95-year-old aged care resident holding a knife because his patience ran out, not because she was a threat, a jury has been told.

Dramatic footage from the aged care home’s CCTV and police body-worn cameras was shown at the manslaughter trial of Senior Constable Kristian White at the Supreme Court of NSW.

In the clips, the 34-year-old utters “nah, bugger it” before tasering Clare Nowland in the torso.

“What the accused said before he fired the taser was completely inconsistent with it being to prevent an imminent violent confrontation,” Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield told the jury on Tuesday during closing submissions.