Inquest to probe cop’s fatal tasering of grandmother

Three years after a police officer fatally tasered a 95-year-old elderly resident, an inquest will examine the care of dementia patients and responses to aggressive incidents.

Then-chief constable Kristian James Samuel White fired his Taser at 95-year-old Clare Nowland after he was called to the Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma in southern NSW on May 17, 2023.

The 100-pound great-grandmother, who had symptoms of dementia, fell and hit her head.

She never regained consciousness and died a week later in hospital after a brain haemorrhage.

A NSW Supreme Court jury found White guilty of manslaughter in November 2024.

He was sentenced to a two-year good behavior bond in March 2025, a decision later upheld by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal.

Now that the criminal trial has concluded, Judge Teresa O’Sullivan will preside over a three-day inquest at Queanbeyan Courthouse from Wednesday.

The inquiry will examine the circumstances surrounding Ms Nowland’s death and White’s discharge of his Taser.

Judge O’Sullivan will also examine how first responders deal with dementia-related incidents of aggression and the adequacy of dementia treatment in aged care settings.

Ms Nowland held a knife while using a walker and ignored attempts by staff to disarm her, White’s trial was told.

During a two-minute and 40-second encounter at Yallambee Lodge, White pulled out his stun gun and pointed it at Ms Nowland for a minute before saying “no, crap” and firing the weapon at her chest.

The then officer was suspended with pay approximately 18 months before the guilty plea.

The 36-year-old Cooma man was subsequently suspended without pay before being removed from the force in December 2024.

He took action against the NSW Police at the Industrial Relations Commission to regain his position, but dropped that bid in August 2025.

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