Coronial inquest into Clare Nowland’s death begins

A police officer who was present when a senior constable fatally tasered Clare Nowland at a southern NSW aged care facility has told an inquest that the deployment of the weapon was not justified.

In the early hours of May 17, 2023, staff at Yallambee Lodge called triple-0 after Mrs Nowland, 95, went into the room of other residents carrying two small kitchen knives.

She was tasered by Mr White during a confrontation inside the nurses’ office at the nursing home just after 5am.

Mrs Nowland later died in hospital. Her death is being probed by a coronial inquest that began on Wednesday.

Many of Mrs Nowland’s family were in the Queanbeyan Court as the inquest got under way.

The inquest is examining issues surrounding her death, including how aged care facility staff and emergency services deal with people with symptoms of dementia.

Senior Constable Jessica Pank attended Yallambee Lodge alongside Mr White and was involved in attempting to talk Mrs Nowland into handing over the weapon.

The inquest heard Senior Constable Pank, who is not accused of any wrongdoing in relation to the incident, attempted to disarm Mrs Nowland but stopped when the 95-year-old raised the knife.

Mr White was heard to saying “nah, bugger it” before he deployed his taser, hitting Mrs Nowland in the chest and abdomen, causing her to fall backwards and hit her head.

She suffered an inoperable brain bleed and died in Cooma Base Hospital a week later.

Senior Constable Pank said on Wednesday that she was surprised when she saw Mr White deploy his Taser, telling the court that at the time she didn’t believe she was at risk.

Asked by Coroner Therese O’Sullivan about what she would have done if Mr White told her he was about to fire his Taser, Senior Constable Pank said: “If there had been a time period, there would have been a discussion.”

She said that had there been further time she would have discussed alternatives to using the Taser.

She was asked by senior counsel assisting the coroner Sophie Callan: “Do you believe that the use of the Taser at that point in time was justified?

“No,” Senior Constable Pank said.

The court was told that according to NSW Police standard operating procedure, the use of a Taser on an elderly person was restricted to “exceptional circumstances” due to the risk of falling.

When Yallambee staff called triple-0, they asked for help from paramedics, but because a knife was involved, the operator was required to also call in police.

Anna Hofner was one of the paramedics who arrived at the aged care facility just before 5am and began searching for Mrs Nowland with Mr White and Senior Constable Pank.

When they found Mrs Nowland inside the nurses’ office, Ms Hofner said she did not fear Mrs Nowland and did not believe the use of the Taser was “proportionate”.

She said she did not speak up when she realised Mr White had drawn his Taser and was “trying to process” what was going on.

She said that at the time she believed it was a “scare tactic” to get Mrs Nowland’s attention.

“There is no way I ever imagined that he was actually going to deploy the Taser,” Ms Hofner said.

She told the court that had she realised that Mr White’s intention was to deploy the Taser on Ms Nowland, she would have spoken up.

“I would have advised him that we will come up with another plan, that there’s no imminent urgency to the current situation, and that we could come to another solution,” she said.

Ms Hofner said that since Mrs Nowland’s death, there had been a focus within NSW Ambulance about training paramedics to help to defuse similar situations and speak up about the use of force.

The court was told that Mrs Nowland’s behaviour in the months leading up to her death was indicative of the development of dementia, a diagnosis that was confirmed post-mortem.

She was treated in hospital in early 2023 due to her at-times aggressive behaviour and was prescribed antipsychotic medication.

“Other incidents, such as Mrs Nowland refusing to return to her room, being verbally disruptive, as well as general confusion, were all noted in the days leading up to 17 May 2023,” Ms Callan told the court.

At the time of her death, Mrs Nowland was suffering symptoms consistent with a cognitive impairment and had mobility issues so needed a walker to move about, the inquest was told.

Mr White was charged and found guilty of manslaughter after facing a NSW Supreme Court trial. He avoided jail and was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order.

In July last year, prosecutors lost an appeal against Mr White’s sentence who was was sacked from the NSW Police after being convicted of manslaughter.

The hearing will continue on Thursday.