The use of weapons such as Tasers by police has come under close scrutiny after 95-year-old great-grandmother Clare Nowland was incapacitated by one of them at her retirement home, as her condition continues to deteriorate.
In 2012 – more than a decade ago – Brazilian student Roberto Curti died in Sydney’s CBD after being tasered 14 times by police when he stole cookies during an LSD-induced psychosis.
Police chased after him and shot multiple probes up to 50,000 volts into the young man’s body.
He spent his final moments of agony on Pitt St in Sydney’s CBD, prompting an investigation into how police are using the devices.
After his death, protocols were tightened and NSW police officers were told not to use them on the elderly, disabled or anyone who was lightweight or at risk of serious injury if they fell.
But on Wednesday, a senior officer fired a taser at Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old great-grandmother and dementia sufferer, leaving her clinging to life.
The use of tasers has been called into question after 95-year-old grandmother Clare Nowland was allegedly tasered by a NSW police officer on Wednesday morning (Photo: Clare Nowland)
An investigation into Taser use in NSW began after Brazilian student Roberto Curti (pictured) died after being tasered 14 times by police when he stole cookies during an LSD-induced psychosis
The dementia sufferer was tasered by the officer at 4am on Wednesday as she slowly approached a team of officers ‘armed’ with a steak knife at Yallambee Lodge retirement home near Cooma, in the NSW Snowy Mountains .
The threat she posed was questioned by Emma Ryan, a Deakin University criminologist who studies Taser use, as the elderly woman required a walker to walk.
She told the The Sydney Morning Herald it is ‘probably the worst’ Taser case she has seen in Australia.
“It’s very well known that you don’t taser frail, elderly or short people, or people with possible heart disease,” Ms Ryan said.
“So for the life of me I can’t understand how the officers came to the conclusion that the Taser was the best solution.”
A family friend of Ms Nowland’s says her condition continues to worsen.
The great-grandmother is now receiving end-of-life care at Cooma District Hospital, surrounded by her distraught family.
“Her breathing is getting shallower, but she’s still with us,” family friend and community attorney Andrew Thaler told AAP on Saturday.
Following Mr Curti’s death, NSW police officers were told not to use Taser on the elderly, disabled, those who are lightweight or could be seriously injured by a fall
On Wednesday, police were called to the nursing home (pictured) after being told Ms Nowland had a kitchen knife. She was tasered while standing next to her walker
Gloomy NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Cotter said the officer was a 12-year veteran of the Force and has resigned
Staff at Yallambee Lodge nursing home called police after Ms Nowland, who suffers from dementia, weighs 100 lbs and uses a walker, carried a serrated steak knife from the kitchen into a small treatment room.
At a press conference on Friday, Deputy Commissioner Peter Cotter confirmed that the Taser had been fired once and that Ms Nowland had hit her head after falling to the ground.
The officer in question has resigned while the investigation is ongoing.
Asst Comm Cotter said the highest level of investigation was initiated by the NSW Homicide Squad.
He suggested that Ms Nowland’s case be treated as if she could soon be dead. A family representative told Daily Mail Australia that she received end-of-life care.
Mr Cotter said he had viewed bodycam footage of the incident and admitted it was ‘confrontational footage’ – but officers are refusing to release it.
He revealed to the officer who Tasered Mrs. Nowland was a 12-year veteran of the Force. Mr Cotter has temporarily resigned while the incident is being investigated.
He did not say when the officer will return.
Greens spokesman David Shoebridge criticized the handling of the incident, saying the bodycam vision of the Tasering should be released if Ms Nowland’s family agrees (Photo: Taser stock image)
“If we get hurt or if we hurt someone in the course of our duties, we’re always ready to make a statement,” Cotter said.
“I cannot say whether this officer .. will be prosecuted. “We need to be very sure before we release all the specific details.”
Greens spokesman David Shoebridge criticized the handling of the incident and said the bodycam vision would be released if necessary Mrs. Nowland’s family agreed.
“There must be an urgent and public review of this incident by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) which, after consultation with the family, includes the release of the Taser video,” he said.
“Tasers are a potentially lethal weapon and should be treated as such, but all too often when the system sends the police that is what they reach for.
“The structural failure here is sending police to the incident when an emergency mental health team should have been available to de-escalate and treat an elderly woman in distress.”
Mr Cotter said Ms Nowland took the serrated steak knife from the nursing home kitchen while wandering around the facility for a few hours.
“She approached the police, but it’s fair to say at a slow pace, she had a walker but she had a knife.” he said.
He said she had been given clear instructions by police to drop the knife and was “approaching the doorway” of a small “medical treatment room” when an experienced male police officer tasered her.
She was alone when the taser happened.
Mrs. Nowland’s family has gathered around her in the expectation that she will not have long to live.