A Supreme Court jury has heard a police officer charged with manslaughter said “bugger it” moments before allegedly tasering a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home.
The statement was made by Crown Prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC during his opening remarks to the jury, which was empanelled this morning, in the trial of Senior Constable Kristian White.
Senior Constable White, 34, has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of Clare Nowland.
The great-grandmother was tasered at the Yallambee Lodge aged-care facility at Cooma in the NSW Snowy Mountains on May 17, 2023.
Mrs Nowland, who suffered from dementia, fell and fractured her skull.
She died one week later in Cooma Hospital.
Clare Nowland, who had dementia, died in Cooma Hospital in May 2023. (Supplied: NSW Police)
Senior Constable Kristian White has been on bail since he was first charged in May 2023.
His trial by jury, before Justice Ian Harrison in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney, continues today and is expected to take four weeks.
Clare Nowland’s family issued a statement over the weekend asking for privacy during the course of the trial.
“The Nowland family wish to make clear that they will not be making any public comment in relation to the upcoming criminal trial of Kristian White,” the statement read.
“[We] ask that the media and public please respect their decision, during what will be a difficult period for the family as the criminal process takes place.”