Courtney Topic’s parents plead with NSW Police Commissioner to watch Taser footage

A mum who suffered the agony of watching video of her daughter being shot dead by police is pleading with NSW’s top cop to rethink her refusal to watch footage of a great-grandmother being Tasered.

A mother who suffered the agony of watching the video of her daughter being Tasered then shot dead by police is pleading with NSW’s top cop to rethink her refusal to watch footage of the Tasering of a great-grandmother.

“Parents have footage of their kids coming into the world. Not many parents have footage of that kid leaving the world,” said Leesa Topic, whose 22-year-old daughter Courtney who was killed by a police bullet to the chest as she stood outside a Hungry Jacks in southwest Sydney in 2015.

Courtney was holding a large kitchen knife and was visibly distressed, pointing the knife at herself, and pacing around.

A NSW Coroner later ruled she was suffering a “severe episode of psychosis”.

The coroner found the responding police took an approach to disarming Courtney that was not appropriate due to her mental disturbance, but they were otherwise not ­accused of any wrongdoing.

Ron and Leesa Topic with a photo of their daughter Courtney. Picture: John Grainger

Courtney was 22 when she was shot dead by police in Hoxton Park. Picture: Supplied

“The commissioner just needs to see it from the perspective of the people whose lives are changed forever,” Ms Topic said.

“Watching our child? That almost killed us, so I understand where she’s coming from, maybe in terms of her own mental health.

“But she needs to watch what happened to that poor old lady.

“I suspect she has seen a lot of things in her time but I feel like showing her my daughter’s video too so she can see the impact of the lack of training or adequate training.”

Mrs Tomic spoke out after hearing the tragic details of the Tasering of Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old resident of Yallambee Lodge in Cooma.

Ms Nowland died on Wednesday, surrounded by family in Cooma Hospital, a week after the horrific encounter with police.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb. Picture: Adam Yip

Clare Nowland died a week after she was Tasered by police.

Mrs Topic said she was upset the commissioner had chosen not to watch the video, and was disappointed the pain and suffering the Topic family had endured was now consuming another family.

“It obviously just breaks my heart for this family, to see this happening all over again, that nothing has changed,” she said.

“Courtney was given 41 seconds before they killed her.

“And to feel that they’ve not learned anything or implemented any of the recommendations made as a result of Courtney’s death, it really, really upsets me.

“I’ve said from the get-go, I don’t want Courtney’s death to be in vain.”

In 2018 Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan made 10 recommendations to improve the way police handle critical incidents involving vulnerable people. Mrs Topic said she wanted written confirmation that all ten recommendations had been implemented.

“I suspect they haven’t because these tragedies keep happening. This horror keeps happening,” she said.

She also questioned why she and her husband giving talks as part of officer mental health training had stopped.

“We had quite a lot of positive feedback. It just stopped in 2020, I guess for budget reasons.

“We would love to keep being involved to keep working for change,” she said.

“We are broken, we’re forever broken. But if we work together for change, to stop it happening to any other people out there, for the sake of the public and for the police officers too, that’s what we want, that will stop this.”

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