TheHerald can also confirm Senior Constable Kristian White allegedly said “bugger it” after repeatedly asking the 95-year-old to drop a steak knife,sources with knowledge of the incident but who are unable to speak publicly have said.
Clare Nowland,95,died after being Tasered by Senior Constable Kristian White (inset) at an aged care home in Cooma,NSW.Supplied
Nowland was asked to stop and drop the knife before she moved towards White’s female partner and raised the implement. White allegedly said the two words around the same time he deployed the Taser.
Senior police described footage of the incident captured on body-worn cameras as “confronting”.
The exchange is expected to be included in documents to be tendered to court on July 5.
Nowland died on Wednesday evening one week after the incident at the Yallambee Lodge aged care facility in Cooma,in southern NSW.
The senior constable’s lawyer,Warwick Anderson,told theHerald that White was extremely upset.
Warwick Anderson,solicitor for Senior Constable White,says his client is deeply distressed.Emma Partridge
“He is very distressed,he is concerned not only for his own welfare but the welfare of all people involved in this matter,” Anderson said on Thursday.
“I don’t think there’s any dispute that on his way to this particular job that it was in his wildest dreams that the matter would unfold in the way it may have.”
The mother of eight,grandmother of 24 and great-grandmother of 34 lived with dementia and was using a walking frame when she was Tasered.
White,who is stood down and on full pay,was charged just before Nowland’s death with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm,assault occasioning actual bodily harm,and common assault.
Homicide squad-led investigators are now combing through his service record.
The charges may be upgraded but only after further investigations into her cause of death and the events at Yallambee Lodge on May 17.
Cooma Police Station.Brook Mitchell
Police say White was at home before being called to Yallambee,along with his partner,to assist NSW Ambulance and staff who found Nowland with the knife before 4am.
Anderson anticipates White will enter a plea of not guilty,but a final decision will be made once a brief of evidence by investigators is handed over.
“I wasn’t there,I can’t comment on exactly what has occurred,but what I could say,using the words of one of my clients who was involved in an incident ... ‘Half an hour ago everything was normal’,” he said.
“I’m sure Mr White feels that way.”
A review of White’s “internal complaint history” now forms part of the critical investigation,NSW Police said on Thursday.
Yallambee Lodge retirement home in Cooma.Brook Mitchell
A statement from Nowland’s family released on Thursday thanked the staff at Cooma Hospital,where Nowland died shortly after White was charged.
“With great sadness,the Nowland family share that our beloved Clare passed away this evening whilst surrounded by the love and support of her family,” the family said.
The Saint Vincent de Paul Society shop,where Nowland volunteered,was closed “in sympathy with the family of Clare Nowland”,according to a sign stuck in the door. “Our prayers and sympathy are with them and all who knew her,” it read.
The Saint Vincent de Paul Society shop,where Nowland volunteered,was closed “in sympathy with the family of Clare Nowland”.Brook Mitchell
Among those closely affected are the residents and staff at Yallambee Lodge,where Nowland lived for the final five years of her life. They described her as “family”.
“Clare was a selfless and committed member of the Snowy Monaro community and her loss will be felt across the region,just as her long life touched so many of us,” said a statement attributed to the council-run home.
Snowy Monaro Mayor Narelle Davis,who knew Nowland for five decades,said she left a “great legacy”.
In Sydney the police watchdog,the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission,will oversee the investigation into the Tasering of Nowland.
The LECC on Thursday put police officer training under the microscope as it investigated allegations excessive force was used during the arrest of an Indigenous teenager in northern NSW in September 2022.
Three senior officers,each responsible for aspects of training,gave evidence about the use of force – including firearms,handcuffs,Tasers and capsicum spray – at a rare public hearing.
Senior Sergeant Andrew Pocock said force was “a last resort control option” where negotiations have failed or are impossible. One of his lessons centres on de-escalation,and he teaches officers “force is driven by the offender”,not police.
“We will react,we won’t proactively go into using force if we can always avoid it,” Pocock said.
“We only step up into that use of force if necessary based on the action of the offender.”
Counsel assisting the commission,Lester Fernandez,read the key principles of the NSW Police Force Tactical Options Model including that “individual police are accountable and responsible for their use of force and must be able to justify their actions at law”.
Senior Sergeant Leanne Weston said the associate policing degree,from Goulburn academy,involves 114 hours on defensive tactics without the use of weapons.
Redfern Legal Centre solicitor Samantha Lee,representing the Indigenous teenager who sustained a head injury as he was apprehended,questioned training around the impact of force on elderly or young people.
Senior Sergeant Phillip Clarke said a person’s vulnerability,size and age are “obviously factors that should be considered” and recognised by officers when they are making decisions.
The LECC investigation continues before Chief Commissioner Peter Johnson.
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