By Miklos Bolza
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 at Cooma in southern NSW on May 17, 2023.
Emergency services arrived after Mrs 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.
The 95-year-old 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 Mrs Nowland’s family) in answering outstanding questions,” Ms Callan told a court in Queanbeyan.
Judge 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 aging population, Ms 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 over four per cent of the population living with the condition.
The three-day inquest is expected to hear evidence from experts that Mrs Nowland’s care and treatment by staff at Yallambee Lodge was reasonable.
Ms Callan said the situation confronting White as Mrs 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, Judge O’Sullivan heard.
There may also be improvements in how police and ambulance officers co-operate and communicate together when dealing with these types of situations, Ms Callan said.
A NSW Supreme Court jury found White guilty of manslaughter in November 2024.
He was sentenced to a two-year good behaviour bond in March 2025, a decision that was later upheld by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal
During the two-minute and 40-second encounter at Yallambee Lodge, White drew his stun gun and pointed it at Mrs Nowland for a minute before saying “nah, bugger it” and discharging the weapon at her chest.
The 36-year-old Cooma man was removed from the force in December 2024.
He took action against NSW Police in the Industrial Relations Commission to regain his position but dropped that bid in August.
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