Senior constable stood down after 95-year-old aged care resident Tasered

NSW Police confirmed in a statement today the officer, aged 33, had been suspended from the force with pay until a formal inquiry is complete.

Nowland, a resident of Yallambee Lodge at the Snowy Mountains, is believed to be receiving end-of-life care in hospital following the Tasering, which resulted in her falling and seriously injuring her head.

Police said last week the elderly resident, who was using a walking frame, was holding a serrated steak knife and “moving at a slow pace” when she was Tasered.

Responding officers had faced criticism over their handling of the incident, with NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb yesterday defending the force’s actions in the wake of the news breaking to media.

Webb said she didn’t speak to the public about the incident earlier because Nowland’s large family needed to be notified first.

“Then we had to wait for the investigators to get onto the ground in Cooma, and those investigators have come from Sydney, and we have had to wait for those facts to become clear to us,” she said.

Webb said she had not seen the footage from the officers’ body-worn cameras of the incident, nor does she plan on watching it.

She also said she was “not sure” why there are calls for the footage to be publicly released.

Nowland has eight children, 24 grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren and four more expected this year.