Clare Nowland, the aged care resident who was Tasered by a police officer in Cooma last week, remains in a “heavy sleep” and is comfortable, surrounded by her family, who held a bedside mass for her on Sunday as she continues to receive end-of-life care.
Calls grew on Monday for a broader independent investigation of police treatment of dementia sufferers after revelations in the Guardian that six officers handcuffed a second nursing home resident, Rachel Grahame, in 2020 after she took a staff member’s lanyard.
The New South Wales police commissioner, Karen Webb, also continued to publicly defend the transparency around the Nowland case and revealed that she had approved an initial statement describing the incident as an “interaction” with Nowland, failing to make any reference to Taser use.
Nowland, 95, remains in Cooma district hospital, surrounded by family, in a critical condition with head injuries sustained as she fell back after being hit by the Taser.
She was visited on Sunday by parish priest Mark Croker, who said she was comfortable and remained in a heavy sleep.
“At the same time, I think she knows that family are around her and one of them said in the last couple of days she took one of the family members’ hand and just kissed them on the hand,” Croker told the Guardian. “A couple of times she has squeezed the hand of one of the family’s members. She is comfortable anyway, that is the main point.”
Croker said the family understood the realities of her condition.
“I think they’re realistic and that Mum’s probably instilled that into them in their faith and belief in a life beyond here,” he said.
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Webb spoke to radio station 2GB on Monday about police’s handling of the incident, confirming she had seen the first statement before it was made public last Wednesday, the same day police used a Taser on Nowland at the council-run Yallambee Lodge aged care facility.
That statement said an elderly woman had “sustained injuries during an interaction with police at an aged care facility in the state’s south today”. It made no mention of police using a Taser on a woman with dementia.
Webb said police were “not hiding anything”.
“It was important that the family were informed of the situation in a factual manner before we went public on it, and I think that’s very necessary, and I’m sure that family appreciates that now,” she said.
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Webb also defended her decision not to watch footage of the incident from body-worn cameras. She said it was important to watch the footage “in the context of all the other statements and evidence”.
“It may be the case in the future where I have to make a determination based on a brief of evidence, without being tainted by having seen a part of the brief without context,” Webb said. “It’s important that we follow a process. I will make my determination impartially.”
Guardian Australia revealed on Sunday that police had used handcuffs to restrain an 81-year-old, 45kg dementia sufferer in a Randwick nursing home in 2020, after being called by staff.
Video of the incident shows the handcuffed dementia sufferer, Rachel Grahame, howling and in distress as police repeatedly tell her to calm down.
The Greens’ justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson, said police should ensure an independent investigation into their handling of such cases.
“What has happened to Ms Nowland needs to be a turning point. We can not have police investigating police anymore,” Higginson said. “The details of the violent arrest of 81-year-old Rachel Grahame in 2020 that were revealed yesterday show that NSW police have not made any progress since that incident and in fact things have gotten worse.
“We need to start doing things differently and that must start with a full investigation by an appropriate independent body and that’s the LECC [Law Enforcement Conduct Commission].”
Police declined to comment on the incident involving Grahame because it was the subject of civil proceedings. Those civil proceedings, in which police were sued for assault and false imprisonment, settled and resulted in a payout to Grahame and her family.