AUSTRALIA: A 95-year-old woman who was allegedly tasered by a police official in her Australian care home passed away in hospital on Wednesday, the New South Wales police force stated.
Clare Nowland, a dementia patient, was tasered after staff discovered her holding a knife outside her room on Wednesday last week in the centre in Cooma in southeastern Australia, police stated at the time.
The Australian police department initiated an inquiry, and on Wednesday they stated that a senior officer would appear in court the next week to answer to accusations of assault resulting in actual bodily harm, assault occasioning serious bodily harm, and common assault. Police have filed assault charges against the officer who tasered Nowland.
Early in July, the 33-year-old senior policeman will appear in court on accusations of assault resulting in actual bodily harm, assault occasioning severe bodily harm, and common assault. While investigations are ongoing, he remains suspended from duty with pay.
Nowland resided in a nursing facility in the community of Cooma, which is located 114 kilometres (71 miles) south of Canberra (Australia’s capital).
According to the NSW Police, their thoughts and sympathies “remain with those who were lucky enough to know, love, and be loved by Mrs. Nowland during a life she led hallmarked by family, kindness, and community.”
Last week, a police officer said she was allegedly “armed” with a steak knife. They confirmed on Friday that she needed a walking frame to move, and the officer used his Taser after she started approaching “at a slow pace”.
After falling and injuring her head during the incident, Nowland is believed to have sustained a cracked skull and a significant brain bleed.
It has sparked demands for both a state parliamentary investigation and the release of the police bodycam footage of the altercation.
The family of Nowland said in a statement that she was the “loving and gentle-natured matriarch of the Nowland family” and was “well respected, much loved, and a giving member of her local community.” Following her passing, they have requested privacy.
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