'Got her': Jury watches dramatic moment police officer Tasered elderly aged care resident
A police officer told an elderly woman with dementia symptoms they were "not playing this game" before he Tasered her in dramatic footage played to his criminal trial.
Senior Constable Kristian James Samuel White shot his stun gun at great-grandmother Clare Nowland at the Yallambee Lodge aged-care home in the southern NSW town of Cooma in the early hours of May 17, 2023.
The 95-year-old hit her head on the floor when she fell and had an inoperable bleed on the brain, dying at Cooma Hospital a week later.
READ MORE: 'Hero' killed when truck smashed into kindergarten revealed
Clare Nowland, 95, died after she was Tasered by a police officer. A Current Affair
Images released by the court show Clare Nowland's pyjamas with Taser marks indicated. Nine
White is on trial in the NSW Supreme Court for her manslaughter.
Today, the jury was shown the incident in footage from the aged-care facility's CCTV cameras, as well as body-worn cameras from White and his partner.
"We're not playing this game, Clare, you're going to put that down," White was heard saying as the 95-year-old approached them with a knife from inside one of the centre's treatment rooms.
Jurors heard electrical crackling come from the Taser as White activated it but initially did not fire.
"You keep coming, you're going to get Tased," he told her.
As Nowland kept walking forward despite the warnings, the 34-year-old was heard saying "nah, bugger it" before discharging his weapon.
READ MORE: Man, 21, charged over alleged robbery linked to crash that killed grandmother
The inside of the nursing home where Clare Nowland was Tasered. Nine
Images shown in court of two steak knives and a pen light on a desk in a treatment room. Nowland was holding one of the steak knives when she was Tasered. Nine
Kristian White enters court at the start of his manslaughter trial yesterday. Steven Siewert
The 95-year-old was seen taking the impact and hunching forward before falling backwards onto the floor, where she lay still.
"Got her, grab it, grab it, grab it," White yelled.
While there is no dispute the 34-year-old discharged his Taser and this led to Nowland's death, the officer stands by his actions.
Yesterday, defence barrister Troy Edwards SC said his client had a duty to protect others from injury or death and acted against the risk that Nowland posed with the knife.
But crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC told jurors the use of force amounted to criminal negligence and a reasonable person could foresee the likelihood of serious injury.
The trial continues.
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
