Clare Nowland, 95, was seen wearing pink pyjamas and sitting at a desk in a room gripping a knife – before a cop deployed his Taser, causing her to fall and sustain fatal injuries
A great-grandma who relied on her walking frame to get around was fatally Tasered by a cop at her nursing home – after she picked up a knife in front of him.
In disturbing footage played in court, Clare Nowland, 95, was seen wearing pink pyjamas and sitting at a desk in a room gripping a knife and her four-wheeled walking frame. Senior Constable Kristian James Samuel White then deployed his Taser, causing her to fall backwards and sustain injuries that ended her life.
Constable White had arrived at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, with a colleague and two paramedics on the morning of May 17. Moments before the incident, he was filmed urging the gran to stay put and drop the knife, but Ms Nowland raised the knife as someone stepped towards her.
Constable White said in response: “We’re not playing this game Clare, put that down.” Lifting his Taser and pointing it towards her, he added: “Clare, stop now. You see this? This is a Taser.” The footage then shows Constable White activating the Taser’s warning system, causing it to make a loud noise and shine a pulsating light at Ms Nowland. He told her: “You keep coming, you’re going to get Tased.”
The gran continued to make her way towards the door slowly, with both hands on her walker. Constable White said: “Stop, just … Nah, bugger it,” before deploying his Taser at her chest. “Got her … grab it” he added.
Kristian White, 34, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and is now fighting the charge during a weeks-long trial in the NSW Supreme Court. Family members of Mrs Nowland burst into tears in court as they watched horrifying footage of the beloved nan clutching her head as she lay on the ground, hardly moving.
Both officers were then seen rushing over, with Constable White keeping an arm on her shoulder. His colleague said: “I didn’t expect it to be like that. I was thinking I could just grab it, but it was a bit too sharp and it was pointed at me.”
The confrontation, which lasted just three minutes, was the crucial element of the trial, Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC told the court on Monday. The Crown alleges Constable White’s conduct amounted to manslaughter as he breached his duty of care, exposing Mrs Nowland to serious risk.
Constable White allegedly told a colleague after the incident: “I’ve had a look and supposedly we aren’t meant to Tase elderly people, but in this circumstance I needed to.”
His lawyer, Troy Edwards SC, said Mr White acted in line with his duties as a police officer to “stop the threat and counteract the risk” Ms Nowland posed to herself and others. He added that the officer felt a “violent confrontation was imminent”.
The 34-year-old was also made aware of a prior violent incident involving Ms Nowland when he responded to the call on May 17. Just two hours before the incident, Ms Nowland was wandering around the nursing home holding two knives.
A 90-year-old man said the gran entered his room holding two knives but “didn’t threaten or raise them at me” before being ushered out. She then entered the room of an 84-year-old man where she had an hours-long standoff with carers whilst waving the knives in the air. At one point, she threw a knife at a staff member, but it landed on the floor.
