Senior constable stood down after 95-year-old aged care resident Tasered
The police officer who allegedly Tasered 95-year-old aged care resident Clare Nowland in Cooma last week has been stood down from duties pending an investigation.
Senior Constable Kristian White, 33, has been suspended from the force with pay until a formal inquiry is complete, NSW Police confirmed in a statement.
Nowland, a resident of Yallambee Lodge in the Snowy Mountains, is believed to be receiving end-of-life care in hospital following the Tasering, which resulted in her falling and seriously injuring her head.
READ MORE: Police defend handling of case after 95-year-old aged care resident Tasered
Senior Constable Kristian White has been stood down with pay after 95-year-old Clare Nowland was Tasered. Supplied
Police said last week the elderly resident, who was using a walking frame, was holding a serrated steak knife and "moving at a slow pace" when she was Tasered.
Police had faced criticism over their handling of the incident, with NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb yesterday defending the force's actions in the wake of the news breaking to media.
Webb said she didn't speak to the public about the incident earlier because Nowland's large family needed to be notified first.
READ MORE: 'Frail' great-grandmother, 95, was holding steak knife when she was Tasered, police say
Clare Nowland, 95, was Tasered by a NSW Police officer last week. Nine
"Then we had to wait for the investigators to get onto the ground in Cooma, and those investigators have come from Sydney, and we have had to wait for those facts to become clear to us," she said.
Webb said she had not seen the footage from the officers' body-worn cameras of the incident, nor does she plan on watching it.
She also said she was "not sure" why there are calls for the footage to be publicly released.
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NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb. 9News
Shadow police minister Paul O'Toole, who held the portfolio in the last Coalition government, said Police Minister Yasmin Catley had been missing in action.
"If I was the minister and a 95-year-old woman had been Tasered I would watch the footage," O'Toole said.
He said there needed to be more transparency and accountability surrounding the investigation.
O'Toole also called for a timeline around the investigation process to be released.
Nowland has eight children, 24 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren, with four more expected this year.
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