Then-acting sergeant Jessica Pank said “oh shit” when her 36-year-old partner deployed the stun gun, telling the inquest on Wednesday she did not expect him to pull the trigger.
Pank, now a senior constable, testified she did not have the authority to tell White to re-holster his weapon, because it was his call to make.
But NSW Police operational safety instructor Senior Sergeant William Watt disputed this, saying if he was in that position, he would have steered White away from using the Taser the second he pulled it out.
“Effectively, as soon as I realised somebody had drawn a Taser in that environment, as the senior person there, that’s not happening,” he said.
Pank said she was not surprised when her partner took out the weapon, saying she thought he was using it to cover her as she tried to take the knife out of Nowland’s hand.
Under questioning by Judge Teresa O’Sullivan, she admitted there was no urgency in resolving the situation at the time her partner pulled the trigger.
Pank testified if she had been told White was going to use the Taser, she would have discussed other options.
Elsewhere in her evidence, the officer acknowledged there were alternatives available, including letting Nowland come into the corridor so police could approach her from different angles.
Intensive care paramedic Anna Hofner told the inquest she felt “absolute shock and disbelief” as she witnessed White deploy the stun gun.
“I didn’t think the use of a Taser was proportionate to the magnitude of the incident … it seemed excessive,” she said.
Emergency services were called to the facility in the early hours of the morning after Nowland grabbed two serrated steak knives from the kitchen and refused to give them up.
During the two-minute and 40-second encounter, White drew his stun gun and pointed it at the great-grandmother for a minute before saying “nah, bugger it” and discharging the weapon at her chest.
The 48-kilogram great-grandmother, who had symptoms of dementia, fell and hit her head.
She did not regain consciousness and died in hospital a week later after a brain bleed.
Watt found the situation confronting White as Nowland stepped towards him was not exceptional enough to warrant shooting her with a Taser.
The woman’s death rocked her family, the local community and the broader NSW community to its core, counsel assisting Sophie Callan SC said in opening the inquest.
The 95-year-old was described as an extremely generous woman who did charitable work and pursued a range of interests including golfing and travel until her late 80s.
O’Sullivan will examine systemic issues before the incident and will focus on dementia care and training for aged care staff, police and ambulance officers.
It was an opportune time to make recommendations that would save lives given Australia’s ageing population, Callan said.
At the time of the incident, neither NSW Police nor NSW Ambulance officers were put through training that dealt with responding to incidents involving people with dementia.
A NSW Supreme Court jury found White guilty of manslaughter in November 2024.
He was sentenced to a two-year good behaviour bond in March 2025, a decision that was later upheld by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal
The 36-year-old was removed from the force in December 2024.
NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.
By
