Cooma, NSW: Clare Nowland Taser death subject of three day inquest into dementia response

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

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

The 48kg great-grandmother, who had symptoms of dementia, fell and hit her head.

She did not regain consciousness and died in hospital a week later after a brain bleed.

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

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

With the criminal process concluded, Judge Teresa O’Sullivan will preside over a three-day inquest at Queanbeyan Courthouse starting on Wednesday.

The probe will look into the circumstances of 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 facilities.

Mrs Nowland was holding a knife while using a walking frame and had been ignoring staff attempts to disarm her, White’s trial was told.

During a two-minute and 40-second encounter at Yallambee Lodge, White drew his stun gun and pointed it at Mrs Nowland for a minute before saying “nah, bugger it” and discharging the weapon at her chest.

The then-officer was suspended from his job with pay for about 18 months prior to the guilty verdict.

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

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