Australian Police Officer Avoids Jail for Taser Death of 95-Year-Old Woman

An Australian police officer, who was convicted of manslaughter for using a taser on a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home, has avoided jail time. Instead, he was sentenced to 425 hours of community service. The officer, identified as Wayne Wright, was dismissed from the force following his conviction but will not serve any prison sentence. During the sentencing, Judge Harrison stated that Wright had committed a ‘terrible mistake.’ However, the judge decided against imposing a custodial sentence, deeming it ‘disproportionate to the objective seriousness of the offense’ and noting that the act was not premeditated but occurred while performing his duty. Family members of the deceased, Nalund, who were present in court, broke into tears during the verdict announcement, according to local media reports. The eldest son of the victim, Michael, expressed dissatisfaction with the decision outside the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney, saying, ‘It was far too lenient for someone who killed our mother… I need time to process this. What we wanted was a fair decision.’ Defense counsel Warren Anderson stated that his client and his family were ‘very relieved’ by the outcome. In November last year, the 35-year-old Wright was found guilty of manslaughter after using a taser on Nalund at the Yallambee Lodge care home in May 2023. Wright was called to the facility when Nalund, suffering from dementia symptoms, was found holding a kitchen knife early that morning. Footage from Wright’s body camera shows brief negotiations between him and Nalund before he uses profanity (‘Go f*** yourself’) and tasers the elderly woman. Weighing only 47.5 kg and requiring a walker to move, Nalund fell backward, hitting her head on the floor. She was hospitalized a week later.