Inquest into death of Clare Nowland after Tasering by NSW police aims to answer ‘outstanding questions’

Three years after police fatally Tasered an aged care resident, an inquest could save lives by improving training for first responders dealing with aggressive dementia patients.

Then-senior constable Kristian James Samuel White fired his Taser at 95-year-old Clare Nowland after being called to Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma in southern New South Wales on 17 May 2023.

Emergency services arrived after Nowland grabbed two serrated steak knives from the facility’s kitchen and refused to give them up.

The 48kg great-grandmother, who had symptoms of dementia, fell and hit her head after being struck by the Taser’s barbs.

She did not regain consciousness and died in hospital a week later after a brain bleed.

The elderly woman’s death “rocked her family, the local community and the broader NSW community to its core”, counsel assisting Sophie Callan SC said as the inquest started on Wednesday.

Nowland was described as an extremely generous woman who carried out charitable work and pursued a range of interests including golfing and travel until her late 80s.

“It is our hope this inquest might provide some solace [to Nowland’s family] in answering outstanding questions,” Callan told a court in Queanbeyan.

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State coroner Teresa O’Sullivan will examine systemic issues that existed prior to the Tasering incident and will focus on dementia care and training for aged care staff, police and ambulance officers.

It was an opportune time to make recommendations that would save lives given Australia’s ageing population, Callan said.

One in four people over the age of 80 had dementia, the court heard.

It was anticipated the number of people with dementia would double in the next 20 years, leading to more than 4% of the population living with the condition.

The three-day inquest is expected to hear evidence from experts that Nowland’s care and treatment by staff at Yallambee Lodge was reasonable.

Callan said the situation confronting White as Nowland stepped towards him and his partner with a knife was not exceptional enough to warrant shooting her with a Taser.

At the time of the incident, neither NSW police nor NSW ambulance officers were put through training that specifically dealt with responding to incidents involving people with dementia, she told the court.

In 2024, ambulance officers were taught how to respond to a dementia patient wielding a spatula in an aged care facility, O’Sullivan heard.

There may also be improvements in how police and ambulance officers cooperate and communicate together when dealing with these types of situations, Callan said.