The police officer who shot and killed a 95-year-old woman with dementia who was holding a dining knife with a Taser |

A police officer was found guilty for fatally shooting a 95-year-old woman suffering from dementia at a nursing hospital in Australia with a Taser.

According to a report by the BBC on the 27th, Sergeant Christian White (34) was dispatched in the early morning of May 17, 2023, after receiving a report that a 95-year-old grandmother was walking around with two eating knives at a nursing hospital.

Sergeant White, who arrived at the scene, ordered the grandmother to put down the knife, but when she did not listen, he fired a Taser. The grandmother fell and hit her head hard on the ground, dying at the scene from cerebral hemorrhage.

Sergeant White, who was sent to trial, pleaded in court, “I didn’t think she would be seriously hurt,” and “I was devastated by my grandmother’s death,” but the court charged Sergeant White with manslaughter, saying that his negligence was acknowledged.

The court ruled that firing a Taser at an elderly woman suffering from dementia and weighing less than 48 kg was an abuse of public power. Also, based on the statement of a nursing hospital resident that the grandmother was carrying a dining knife but was not a threat, it was determined that the situation was not threatening enough to use a Taser.

In its ruling, the court found the woman guilty, saying, “The police used a weapon just three minutes after discovering the grandmother,” and “The police responded impatiently.” According to the BBC, Sergeant White, who is currently on bail and awaiting trial, will be sentenced at a later date.