24 May 2023 , 08:44
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The police officer who allegedly tasered a 95-year-old grandma in her care home has been charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm.
Clare Nowland, a dementia sufferer, was found by staff holding a knife at Yallambee Lodge, in southern New South Wales, Australia.
Nursing home workers then called the police who attempted to disarm the great-grandmother before she was tasered twice and left with a fractured skull.
Clare has eight children, 24 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren, with four more expected this year. Her family now fears she is going to die soon.
Senior Constable Kristian White, 33, has been given three charges including recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.
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Senior Constable Kristian White, 33Clare weighs under seven stone and police say she was advancing on them at a "slow pace" with a walking frame, but also holding a serrated steak knife.
Officers said they felt so threatened by her that they needed to use force, causing her to fall back, smash her head and left with critical injuries.
Andrew Thaler, who knows the family, told the Guardian Australia: "The police tasered this woman twice, once in front of her chest, and once in the back, then she’s fallen and struck her head.
“The family are grieving because they don’t expect their nan to make it through the day, or tomorrow at the latest."
The family believe Clare may have been buttering toast, hence wielding a knife.
Body-cam footage captured the whole ordeal, but police say they will not release it as it forms a crucial part of their investigation.
Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old dementia patient (ABC News)Kristian is due to appear in Cooma Local Court on July 5 and remains suspended from duty with pay.
The police's first statement failed to mention tasering and only revealed there had been an "interaction" between the great-grandmother and police.
Radio host Ben Fordham pressed the police chief on why they had not informed the public on what really happened and whether they were "'hiding something that might be embarrassing or shameful for the police?"
She replied: "The Nowland family deserve to learn from police what happened rather than hear about it in the media."
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Cooma’s local parish priest, Mark Croker, who knows Clare and the family well said he was left "gobsmacked" when he heard the news.
He told Guardian Australia: "[She is] A very nice lady, a deeply appreciative lady for whenever I visited her, a very respectful lady, and one who the church community here held in very high regard."
Bronnie Taylor, a resident of the Cooma region and deputy leader of the New South Wales Nationals party, said the mood in the tight-knit town was sombre.