I write a lot about criminal cases both foreign (Sherri Papini, Kyle Rittenhouse, Amanda Knox, Ghislaine Maxwell,) and domestic (Anya Bradford, Tafari Walton, the infamous big-dick-Jimmy James Davis of House Cadifor, the Brittany Higgins trial, Zachary Rolfe).
It’s my thing, in a way.
I have a well-calibrate bullshit meter, and a forensic aptitude for noticing the small, telling detail that mass media often overlook. Even if I say so myself.
But I also delete posts (i.e. House Cadifor) if the Director of Public Prosecutions and/or the trial judge publicly warn ‘commentators’ to avoid prejudicing proceedings.
Not than anybody reads my posts …
But I deleted my most forensic essay not because the judge said to, but because that rapey fuck Bruce Lehrmann started suing everybody.
I don’t have any money Bruce, piss off.
So out of respect for due process (and self-preservation) I haven’t written about the manslaughter of Clare Nowland by Senior Constable Kristian White yet.
But the appeal’s over now, baby!
It’s time.
Brief recap:
In 2023, police responded to a ‘000’ call from an aged-care facility where a 95-old Clare Nowland was wandering the halls in her walker holding two knives and a jar of prunes.
Within three minutes of arrival, after Nowland refused to drop the prunes knife, White said “bugger it” and deployed his taser. Nowland fell, hit her head, and died of an inoperable brain-bleed one week later.
Poor old lady, right?
Senior Constable Kristian White looks like a slow-moving lardass with a face like a knee. He also suffers from RDF (resting dickface). Public opinion swung hard against him from the first dramatic court (non)appearance before always-entertaining Magistrate Roger Clisdell.
And it was all downhill from there.
To say he became the most hated man in Australia is an understatement. Nobody — literally nobody — was in his camp. Hand-wringing muppet that she was, even the Commissioner of Police threw her employee immediately under the bus.
Total persona non grata.
Kristian White’s non-custodial sentence was appealed by the DPP on gounds including manifest inadequacy, but three judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal agreed it was adequate.
Among the minutiae of this case are crumbs you missed which may soften your attitude toward Kristian White — unless you’re a rusted-on cop hater in which case go fuck yourself.
Watch this first:
The Triple-0 Call.
The staff at Yallambee Lodge are trained and experienced in managing dementia patients like “poor old” Clare Nowland. Yet nurse Rosaline Baker rang ‘000’ after Nowland threatened staff and other residents with a knife.
Understand this: Nowland was a threat beyond their capabilities. For police arriving at the scene, she was a threatening demented uncooperative woman with a knife.
So firstly, Let’s stop pretending Clare Nowland was just a frail old lady who couldn’t hurt a fly.
Section 7, Police Regulations 2015
All police take the same oath — not the Amercanised conflation of “protect life and property” you idiots parrot, but to preserve the peace “without favour or affection, malice or ill-will“.
Kristian White and his partner were duty-bound to restore peace at Yallambie Lodge. White could not just walk away. Imagine if he did: “Not my job, mate” and Nowland stabs somebody-else’s-poor-old-mum?
He was damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.
Use of Force
All police powers include the threat of coercive force.
Balancing this common-law power is that cops are lectured, trained, reminded, threatened, warned, and nagged endlessly about situational awareness and proportionality.
The old saying “Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight” is only one slice of the Tactical Options Model pie:
Because the options of tactical disengagement (see above), contain and negotiate (ie., sieges), and AAO tactics (ie., Bondi massacre) were not relevant, Kristian White’s options were:
pepper spray her
club her with his baton
shoot her with his Glock
wrestle her
IMHO, that silly fat fuck should have let “poor old” Clare Nowland stab him first.
Once stabbed (if he lives) he could spray, club or shoot with gay abandon, and not worry about becoming an unemployed pariah (though maybe give Zachary Rolfe a buzz first, because even being stabbed might not be enough).
Bodyworn Video
Exactly as required, Kristian White activated his bodyworn video camera to record his execution of police powers — what followed was a textbook response: multiple warnings, clear directions, and good communication.
What Kristian White didn’t know was — two days prior — nurses halved the anti-psychotic meds Nowland was on for “moderately-severe dementia” with “aggressive symptoms”.
So on the fateful morning, as Professor Susan Kurrle would later attest:
All that Kristian White knew was that Nowland was not complying, and was coming at him with the knife. What he said and did next as captured on BWV sealed his fate.
He said “nah bugger it” and deployed his taser.
O’Hara v Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary
Kristian White is bad at math. He failed the two-part test that determined whether tasering Nowland was a reasonable option for him at the time.
He thought lighting her up was necessary, but would a hypothetical person is his shoes agree it was proportionate?
Here’s the equation: a frail 95-year old female dementia patient using a walking frame to move slowly toward you while holding a kitchen knife — versus — a hulking experienced male Senior Constable with a second officer present, supported by two ambulance officer (for sedation and restraint) and nursing staff (useless so far).
That’s a zero-zum game. Kristian White thought no-time was go-time.
The Non-Custodial Sentence
Cops are trained to act, not wait. Cops are brave, result-oriented problem-solvers, who risk-assess on the fly and commit to a course of action in good faith on the basis of all the information at hand at the time — and sometimes they get it wrong.
Mistakes happen, and if you think otherwise, then you’re wrong:
The judges who considered every tiny piece of evidence agree: “We do not live in a perfect world and errors of judgement, even ones as tragic and significant as that which occurred in the present case, regularly happen.”
The judges were right not to send Kristian White to gaol.
Why Kristian Should be Pissed
Kristian White had no choice but attend the job and resolve a situation for which he was not trained, unlike the nursing staff who failed to do thier job.
He wasn’t told everything he needed to know, even though there was time and opportunity for nursing staff to do so.
His options were limited by the circumstances confronting him — he had no option but to use some degree of force.
He did not act unreasonably in decided not to risk be stabbed. If a five-year old can fatally stab you to death, so can a 95-year old.
His choice to use a non-lethal option would not have been problematic had it not later backfired. Only Nowland’s death made this newsworthy.
His frustrated (for the reasons above) comment at the time was so publicly circulated that it destroyed his character, reputation and employability by demonizing him to a nation.
It was a mistake. Much as some want to believe otherwise, he didn’t murder Clare Nowland, but only the courts (and this blogger) believe that.
But for now and forever he will always be remember as the “killer taser cop”.