Former officer who tasered 95yo Clare Nowland backs down from bid to get job back in police force
A jury found White guilty of manslaughter over the death of Clare Nowland last November.
He had been called to Cooma's Yallambee Lodge, where Ms Nowland had been wandering the aged care facility with two knives from the kitchen in May 2023.
Ms Nowland, who used a four-wheeled walker to move around, was holding one of the knives in the nurses' office when police and paramedics attempted to get her to put it down.
White said "bugger it" and deployed his taser, causing the great-grandmother to fall backwards and hit her head. Ms Nowland died a week later.
White was removed from the police force in December, following the jury's guilty verdict.
He was sentenced to a two-year community correction order and 425 hours of community service — a result the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) unsuccessfully appealed against.
White filed an application in the Industrial Relations Commission which sought a review of the decision to remove him from the police force.
That matter was due for a conciliation hearing on Tuesday. However, the commission received a notice of discontinuance, which means the matter is closed.
During the appeal process, the DPP attempted to argue the sentence was manifestly inadequate, among four grounds of appeal.
The Court of Criminal Appeal disagreed. It found that while the sentence was "lenient", conviction of manslaughter in the "exceptional circumstances of this case" did not mandate a custodial term.
The court found the sentencing judge, Justice Ian Harrison, made no errors in his approach.
That included considering White's "strong" subjective circumstances, such as the loss of his job, and inability to live in his local community.
Members of the Nowland family have expressed disappointment at the sentence and appeal result, saying they were "struggling to come to terms" with it.
White had already completed 120 hours of his community service leading up to the appeal hearing in June.
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