A coronial inquest into the death of Clare Nowland is underway three years after the 95-year-old was tasered by a serving NSW Police officer in her Snowy Mountains aged care home.
The great-grandmother was a resident at Cooma’s Yallambee Lodge in May 2023, when a staff member called Triple Zero (000) to report that she was wandering the property and entering other residents’ rooms.
Paramedics and two police officers, including former senior constable Kristian White, found Ms Nowland a room, holding a steak knife against her walker.
CCTV footage captured Clare Nowland walking around the facility before she was tasered. (Supplied)
Within three minutes, White drew his taser, said “nah, bugger it” and discharged the weapon at the great-grandmother.
Ms Nowland fell, hit her head and died in hospital one week later after suffering an inoperable brain bleed.
At the time she weighed 47.5 kilograms and had symptoms consistent with dementia.
Kristian White was found guilty of manslaughter in 2024. (ABC News: Keana Naughton)
White was found guilty of manslaughter following a jury trial in the NSW Supreme Court in November 2024.
He avoided jail time over the death and was instead sentenced to a two-year community correction order and required to do 425 hours of community service.
At the time, Justice Ian Harrison said White’s crime fell on the lower end of objective seriousness and was not premeditated.
He also noted that White showed remorse.
A subsequent appeal by Crown prosecutors to review that sentence was dismissed.
Clare Nowland was a resident at the Yallambee Lodge aged care facility in Cooma. (Four Corners: Sissy Reyes)
Coronial inquest opens
About a dozen members of the Nowland family attended the first day of the inquest at Queanbeyan Coroners Court, all wearing pins featuring a photo of Ms Nowland inside a heart.
Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan acknowledged the family present in the court room and tuning in via audio-visual link.
“Welcome here today. I’m sorry it’s under sad circumstances,” she said.
Senior counsel assisting the coroner, Sophie Callan, said in her opening address that Ms Nowland’s death “rocked a family and a local community to its core”.
Ms Callan told the court that “guilt or innocence or liability will not be determined” as part of the inquest, nor would it be used to “further critique the conduct of those involved on 17 May, 2023”.
She said the focus would be on systematic issues surrounding Ms Nowland’s death and whether any recommendations were necessary “to prevent a re-occurrence” in the future.
Ms Callan said questions would be asked as to why police were called to Yallambee Lodge and what alternatives may have been available to police and ambulance officers responding to Ms Nowland’s dementia-related aggression.
“What changes, if any, might warrant recommendations to reduce the risk of such events occurring again?” she said.
“We have an ageing population in Australia … it is anticipated the number of people living in dementia in Australia will more than double in the next 20 years.
“This will place increased demand on our aged-care sector and first responders in dealing with people with dementia.”
In this case, the facts regarding Ms Nowland’s cause of death are not in dispute.
The inquest will be held in the Queanbeyan Courthouse over the next three days. (ABC South East NSW: Isla Evans)
White’s actions on the night of May 17, 2023 — when he deployed the taser on Ms Nowland — were found to be excessive and not reasonably necessary.
Christine Melis, who was the legal representative for NSW Police, read a statement to the court on behalf of Commissioner Mal Lanyon.
“The commissioner accepts that the decision made to discharge a taser against Mrs Nowland should not have occurred in the circumstances,” she told the court.
White was removed from the NSW Police Force after the trial in 2024.
Focus on dementia training
The inquest is also expected to focus on the guidelines and training given to aged-care staff, police and emergency services in dealing with people experiencing dementia.
It is also set to look at the way those people communicate with patients and how they de-escalate situations.
Witnesses representing police, ambulance and dementia training and advocacy groups are expected to give evidence.
Representatives for the Nowland family, the local Snowy Monaro Regional Council and the aged care provider are also expected to take part.
Clare Nowland’s family wants the inquest to lead to change. (Supplied)
Ms Nowland’s eldest son, Mike Nowland, previously spoke to the ABC’s Four Corners program about the family’s concerns about gaps in police training and policies around taser use, and said he hoped the inquest would lead to change.
The inquest before Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan is expected to continue until Friday.