Police accused of tasering 95-year-old dementia-sufferer and great grandmother Claire Nowland may be given preferential treatment after being granted unconditional bail by her police colleagues, lawyers believe.
The claim comes as Daily Mail Australia can reveal state prosecutors are considering whether to upgrade the charges against Senior Constable Christian White to murder.
Mr White is currently charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning bodily harm and common assault over the May 17 incident at a nursing home in Cooma, NSW.
The elderly woman died a week after the incident, which sparked global outrage.
Senior Constable White was granted unconditional bail last week where many people accused of such serious assaults are either denied bail or granted strict conditions.
A senior barrister told Daily Mail Australia he was ‘not surprised’ White was granted unconditional bail, but several Sydney lawyers said it was ‘unusual’ to grant unconditional freedom to someone facing serious charges of violence. Conditions would be imposed for an ‘ordinary citizen’, they argued.
Senior solicitor Peter Katsoulis said that ‘it’s not normal, but he’s a police officer. I would be very doubtful if anyone else (other than a police officer) would have got unconditional bail (on this charge).
‘And there is community safety. It is still of utmost concern.’
NSW Police could not comment on ‘special treatment’ for Christian White or whether he could be charged with murder ‘as the matter is now before the courts’.
Taser cop Christian White (above, right) is on unconditional bail on three counts of violence in the case of Claire Nowland, 95.
Christian White, 33, was a no-show at Cooma Local Court last week, angering the magistrate who said his court had not been informed that the DPP had changed police presence through AVL.
The concerns come as it was revealed on Tuesday that Ms Nowland’s family was suing the State of NSW over her alleged assault and filed a civil action on her behalf before her death.
Ms Nowland, a 43kg, 157cm great grandmother with dementia, was placed inside a treatment room at the nursing home when she slowly approached Snr. Constable White and a female sergeant while using his walking frame with a knife in his hand.
After Snr. Constable White fired his Taser, he fell to the ground, hit his head and never regained consciousness before dying surrounded by his family on the evening of May 24.
It is alleged that the officer Tasered Ms Nowland after telling her to ‘stop’ several times, then saying ‘oh bugger it’ as he deployed the Taser.
Despite intense public interest in the Tasering of 95-year-old Mrs Nowland, Commissioner Webb has consistently refused to view bodycam footage of the incident, which senior police described as ‘face-breaking’.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb has been accused of a cover-up while police spin doctors scoured the campaign for any mention of Ms Nowland’s tasering of the alleged assault, whether Nowland had a knife, was in a nursing home or under police employment. re-evaluation
About an hour later, the police announced in a media release that they had charged Christian White, even though he had been summoned by summons rather than brought to the Cooma police station under arrest, and had already left the city by that time.
Police have been accused of covering up the fact that Ms. Nowland was Tasered by not mentioning in the media release.
The NSW Police media release also failed to mention that the unnamed victim had a knife, was in a nursing home and the officer’s employment was being reviewed.
Last week a magistrate protested against prosecutors for allowing White to appear in person at Cooma Local Court via audio visual link.
A ‘disgusted’ NSW magistrate Roger Clisdale chastised the Director of Public Prosecutions for wasting money spent on extra security and was left ‘sitting here on the bench with Dumbo (who) has to suck it up’.
It is believed an email of attendance details was sent to the court, but was not brought to Mr Clisdale’s attention before the hearing began.
Police and prosecutors have been accused of handling the case of accused cop Christian White (right), accused of tasering 95-year-old Claire Nowland (left) in May.
During his much-anticipated first court appearance, the DPP said it was applying for bail with conditions, such as appearing in person at future court hearings.
The magistrate, criticizing that he was also handed a redacted copy of the police information, said, ‘Am I not credible enough to see the unredacted copy?’.
A visibly upset Mr Clisdale threw out the bail application, saying: ‘(The DPP) has pardoned him today, so why should I put him on your phone and not mine?’
White is currently suspended from NSW Police with pay, as he awaits a further court appearance on September 6.
The maximum sentence for recklessly causing grievous bodily harm – the most serious of his existing charges – is 10 years in prison while he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years if upgraded to murder.
The four main concerns when granting bail were failure to appear at future court dates, propensity to commit serious crimes while at large, endangering community safety, or tampering with witnesses.
Sacked police officer Christian White (above with his dog in Cooma last month) appeared in court through AVL and is not required in person when his case returns to court in September.
White’s lawyers argued that the police officer did not present a flight risk and was not a risk to reoffend.
According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics, the number of cases in the state where defendants are released unconditionally has dropped significantly.
A 2011 study found that such incidents dropped by 15 percentage points, from 60.3 percent to 44.0 percent, even as the number of bails increased.
The number of defendants facing assault charges among unconditionally released defendants also decreased by 14 percentage points, even as the number of assault cases before the courts increased.
Between 1999 and 2008, the probability of unconditional release for accused assault offenders fell by almost half.
More recent BOCSAR data shows the percentage of defendants charged with ‘intent to injure’ offenses who were granted bail, also referred to as unconditional release on bail.
This was despite a 32 percent increase in the number of people in this category of violent crimes between 2015, when 40.9 percent of these offenders were granted unconditional bail, and in 2022, when it was granted to 32.3 percent.
Peter Woodhouse of Aulich Lawyers said online that people accused of serious offenses had found it harder to get bail since 2014 when the “show cause” test for serious offenses was implemented and there was a significant tightening of NSW bail laws as a response. Incites outrage by the media’.
‘Take it from someone who often practices in the area,’ he said, ‘these reforms have made it more difficult to get bail in NSW and it is quite difficult to get bail in NSW for someone charged with a serious offence.’
How the DPP is considering upgrading charges against Christian White
A senior barrister told Daily Mail Australia it was understood the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was deciding whether to upgrade the charges, retaining the existing charge of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm as an alternative to manslaughter.
After Ms Nowland’s death on May 24, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said charges against the officer could be upgraded.
When asked if Christian White would be charged with the murder, the ODPP replied: ‘This office has a vehicle for the prosecution of Christian White following a charge received by NSW Police.
“This office will determine the appropriate charge as part of the certification process under the Early Appropriate Guilty Plea (EAGP) scheme.”
NSW Police could not comment on ‘special treatment’ for Christian White or whether he could be charged with murder ‘as the matter is now before the courts’.
Senior Constable White was granted unconditional bail last week where many people accused of such serious assaults are either denied bail or granted strict conditions.