A New South Wales police officer recorded in an incident report that he pointed his Taser at a great-grandmother because of an “imminent threat”, a court has been told.
Clare Nowland suffered fatal injuries when police constable Kristian White discharged his Taser into her chest at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma on the morning of May 17.
Constable White faces a weeks-long trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to manslaughter over the great-grandmother’s death.
The Crown alleges that it breached its duty of care to Ms Nowland and caused her unlawful death either through criminal negligence or a dangerous act, namely excessive use of force.
There is no doubt he deployed his weapon and caused Ms Nowland’s death, but his lawyers maintain it was a proportionate reaction to the risk she posed by holding a knife.
Constable White’s barrister Troy Edwards SC argued his client had acted to “stop the threat” and “prevent a breach of the peace” when he fired his police-issued weapon at the 95-year-old man.
On Wednesday, the court heard that Constable White had written an incident report in which he claimed he had used his Taser on Ms Nowland because he felt there was an “imminent threat”.
The police officer in charge of the investigation into Constable White’s actions, Detective Sergeant Mitchell Bosworth, told the jury the explanation was an option on a drop-down menu. The entire taped selection was revealed by Mr. Edwards during his opening statement on Monday.
Police constable Kristian White (pictured on Tuesday) faces a week-long trial in the NSW Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to manslaughter over Ms Nowland’s death.
Clare Nowland (pictured) died in May 2023 after being Tasered in a rural nursing home.
“As a violent confrontation was imminent and to prevent injury to police, the Taser was discharged,” Sergeant Bosworth said Constable White had recorded in his incident report that day.
Edwards said the explanation had not changed since the day of the incident.
The court was told the 34-year-old man had been informed of a previous violent incident involving Mrs Nowland when he arrived at the nursing home.
Geriatrician Dr Susan Kurrle told the court that people with symptoms of dementia, like Mrs Nowland, could experience sudden changes in behaviour.
“Their behavior can change and that can be quite difficult to deal with,” he said.
“Someone nice gets angry or aggressive.”
Dr. Kurrle did not treat Mrs. Nowland firsthand, but instead applied her decades of experience to analyze the 95-year-old woman’s medical and nursing home records.
‘You can see a major… change in behavior in Mrs Nowland. And the behaviors are not typical of what she was like before the dementia occurred,” he said.
An image of the treatment room in the Yallambee Lodge administration building.
Two steak knives were seized at the Yallambee nursing home on May 17.
The court was told Mrs Nowland was prescribed anti-psychotic medication to help treat her behaviour.
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC said records from his nursing home made reference to “intrusive type behaviour”.
This comes after the jury on Tuesday saw surveillance footage of Ms Nowland moving slowly around the nursing home with a walker and holding two knives in the hours before he was Tasered.
Hatfield read statements from two of his fellow residents, whose rooms he had entered after 3am.
A 90-year-old man said Mrs Nowland was carrying two knives when she entered his room, but “didn’t threaten me or raise them at me” before she was led out of the room.
He said it was not the first time the 95-year-old woman had come into his room, but she had never been threatening or raised any issues.
The court was told that Mrs Nowland entered the room of an 84-year-old man, where she had a lengthy confrontation with aged care staff during which she waved knives in the air.
Mrs Nowland’s family filled the public gallery on Wednesday (pictured)
The 95-year-old man threw one of the knives at a care home staff member, but it landed on the floor.
The court was told Mrs Nowland threw one of the knives at a member of staff at the nursing home but it landed on the floor.
The jury heard the incident led a nurse to call triple-0 for help with a “very aggressive resident”.
An ambulance was sent and the police were notified because she was armed with a knife.
The jury was told Mrs Nowland weighed just 47.5kg when she was autopsied days after her death.
