The police officer who Tasered 95-year-old Clare Nowland has been spotted in public for the first time since he blasted the beloved great-grandmother.
Kristian White, 33, was photographed by Daily Mail Australia running errands with his wife, baby daughter and pet dog in Cooma on Wednesday.
The senior constable has been suspended from duty on full pay since Ms Nowland was Tasered at the Yallambee Lodge in southern NSW.
The great-grandmother died a week later from injuries suffered when she fell and hit her head.
The dementia sufferer, who weighed just 43kg, was holding a steak knife and ‘slowly’ approaching police in her walking frame when she was blasted.
Police have revealed to Daily Mail Australia that White is in a ‘heightened emotional state’ since being hit with several charges over the incident, and leading up to Ms Nowland’s funeral next week.
Taser cop Kristian White didn’s answer questions about Clare Nowland’s Tasering when seen out for the first time since the 95-year-old’s alleged assault and subsequent death
Kristian White (above) with his wife and baby daughter in Cooma on Wednesday, emerging for the first time three weeks after he Tasered 95-year-old Clare Nowland
Cooma Police said the senior constab le and his partner were ‘in a heightened state at the moment’ as he prepares to face court next month.
Dressed in black shorts with a grey hoodie and thongs, and wearing dark sunglasses, White looked downcast and reflective as he and his wife drove with their baby daughter to ferry their pet German Shepherd to the Cooma Vet just before lunchtime.
They returned about 40 minutes later before driving off to Cooma police station around 11am.
White declined to answer questions about whether the Tasering had been an accident, or whether he had anything to say to Ms Nowland’s family.
It is also unclear if he has been charged with manslaughter since Ms Nowland’s death on May 24, a week after he Tasered her at the nursing home.
White and a female sergeant were pulled out of bed in the early hours of May 17 to answer an emergency services call to Yallambee where Nowland had wandered from her residential house.
Police say the 157cm (five-foot-two) great-grandmother was in a treatment room on a walking frame.
Kristian White made no response to questions about the Taser incident and instead drove straight to Cooma police station
Clare Nowland will be buried next week in Cooma after a requiem mass conducted by three priests including one of her sons, Father Bede
Clare Nowland will be buried in Cooma after a full requiem mass next Tuesday at her parish, St Patrick’s Catholic Church conducted by three priests including one of her eight children, Father Bede
The two officers confronted the ‘slowly approaching’ pensioner who was holding a serrated knife and allegedly preparing to disarm here when White reportedly said ‘no, bugger it’ and fired his Taser into Ms Nowland’s chest.
Ms Nowland fell to the ground hitting her head and reportedly suffered bleeding on the brain, dying surrounded by friends and family in Cooma Hospital a week later.
He will face Cooma Local Court on July 5 charged with grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning bodily harm and common assault.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter has described bodycam footage of the Tasering as ‘confronting’, while Commissioner Karen Webb has declined to watch it as police investigate the incident.
Sen Con Kristian White (above with his pet dog and his wife arriving at the Cooma Vet) is police say ‘in a heightened state’ ahead of a court appearance on charges over the Tasering and Clare Nowland’s funeral
Kristian White, pictured with his German Shepherd in Cooma on Wednesday, is in an ’emotional state’ ahead of facing charges over the Tasering of Clare Nowland, 95
Kristian White dropped from sight as news of the Tasering sparked furore around Australia and overseas.
Police said White’s wife ‘is concerned’ about attention towards her husband.
When approached at his home on Wednesday by Daily Mail Australia, displaying full identification and announcing the media outlet’s request to speak with him, he immediately drove to Cooma Police Station and reported fears of alleged staking and harassment.
Police said they understood media interest in their fellow officer despite the heightened emotions.
Clare Nowland will be buried at Cooma Lawn Cemetery next Tuesday after a requiem mass is held at her parish, St Patrick’s Catholic Church in the Snowy Mountains town.
The mass will be conducted by three priests frim the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, including one of her eight children, son Father Bede.
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