‘Never seen anything like that’: Nurse tells court of moment 95-year-old grandmother tasered by cop

A nurse has given evidence of the moment she witnessed a police officer deploy his Taser on a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home.

A nurse with 50 years experience has recalled the moment she saw a police officer deploy his taser against a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home, telling a court she had “never seen anything like it”.

Clare Nowland sustained fatal injuries when Senior Constable Kristian White discharged his Taser at her chest in Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma on the morning of May 17.

Constable White is facing a weeks-long trial in the NSW Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to manslaughter over the great-grandmother’s death.

The Crown alleges he breached his duty of care to Mrs Nowland and caused her unlawful death by either criminal negligence or a dangerous act, namely an excessive use of force.

Kristian White has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of 95-year-old Clare Nowland after he tasered her at an aged care facility. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

There is no dispute that he deployed his weapon and it caused Mrs Nowland’s death, but his lawyers maintain it was a proportionate reaction to the risk she posed by holding a knife.

Constable White’s barrister Troy Edwards SC argued his client had acted to “stop the threat” and “prevent a breach of the peace” when he fired his police weapon at the 95-year-old.

The nurse on duty on the night of the incident, Rosaline Baker, told the jury on Wednesday she had watched as the police officer lit up the device and discharged it at Mrs Nowland.

The nurse recalled “two little lights” before the “shot”, which was “so loud”.

She saw Mrs Nowland collapse backwards.

“I was very very concerned when she was falling to the ground,” Ms Baker said.

Clare Nowland died in May 2023 after being tasered in a rural nursing home.

The nurse had called triple-0 for assistance an hour earlier, describing Mrs Nowland as a “very aggressive resident”.

An ambulance was dispatched and police were notified because she was armed with a knife.

Constable White recorded in an incident report that he had deployed his Taser at Mrs Nowland because he felt there was an “imminent threat”, the court was told.

The police officer in charge of the investigation into the incident, Detective Sergeant Mitchell Bosworth, told the jury the explanation was an option in a drop-down menu.

According to Mr Edwards, Constable White’s longer response read: “As a violent confrontation was imminent and to prevent injury to police, the Taser was discharged.”

When Constable White arrived at the aged care home, Ms Baker said she told him that Mrs Nowland had brandished a knife at her and carried knives into the rooms of other residents.

She told the court the 95-year-old had raised her arm with the knife in hand, and refused to hand it over when asked.

“I was kind of concerned, not knowing whether she was really going to attack me or not,” Ms Baker said.

“Every time (I asked) her to give me the knife, she was pointing it to me”.

She recounted how Mrs Nowland had used her walking frame to wander around the nursing home with two steak knives for hours before she was fatally tasered.

Nurse Rosaline Baker made the triple-0 call for assistance with Mrs Nowland on May 17. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

The court was told the great-grandmother entered the rooms of four other nursing home residents between 3am and just before 5am.

In one of the rooms, she threw a knife at one of the carers but it landed on the floor.

Geriatrician Dr Susan Kurrle told the court that people with symptoms of dementia, such as Mrs Nowland, could exhibit unusual behaviours such as entering the rooms of others.

“Their behaviour can change and that can be quite difficult to manage,” she said.

“Someone pleasant becomes upset or aggressive.”

Dr Kurrle did not treat Mrs Nowland first-hand but applied her decades of experience to analysing the 95-year-old’s medical and nursing home records.

“It was clear in the three months before her death that her behaviour changed dramatically,” she said.

“She did not behave in the way she had previously.”

Two steak knives were seized at Yallambee nursing home on May 17. Picture: Supplied

There were holes in the pyjamas Clare Nowland was wearing when she was tasered by Constable White. Picture: Supplied

The court was told Mrs Nowland had punched, kicked, and tried to bite hospital staff during a violent incident in the weeks before she

died.

She had been prescribed an antipsychotic medication to help treat “her aggressive behaviour”, Dr Kurrle noted.

Dr Kurrle concluded “in hindsight, it’s very clear” the great-grandmother had “moderate to moderately severe dementia”.

She explained Mrs Nowland’s “change in personality, change in behaviour (and) … difficulty in understanding what staff wanted her to do … they all support that conclusion.”

The jury has been told Mrs Nowland weighed just 47.5 kgs when she was autopsied days after her death.

Originally published as ‘Never seen anything like that’: Nurse tells court of moment 95-year-old grandmother tasered by cop