The family of 95-year-old great-grandmother Clare Nowland, who died on Wednesday after being Tasered by NSW police a week earlier, say she died surrounded by “love and support”.
“With great sadness, the Nowland family share that our beloved Clare passed away this evening – whilst surrounded by the love and support of her family. Our beautiful mum, nana and great-grandmother,” they said in a statement.
“We wish to thank the staff at Cooma hospital for their care and support for Clare and our family.”
Senior constable Kristian White, 33, is due to appear in court for the offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, which can carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
He is due to appear at Cooma local court on 5 July.
Clare Nowland was allegedly Tasered by police after she was found armed with a steak knife in her home at Yallambee Lodge aged care facility in Cooma.
Guardian Australia confirmed late Wednesday that she had died.
When asked at a press conference on Wednesday night if the charges might be upgraded, the police commissioner, Karen Webb, said it was possible.
Webb described the Tasering as “a nasty incident”, but maintained the police investigation had been carried out properly and without prejudice.
“I am confident that this matter is before the court without interference,” Webb said.
Police internal investigation questioned
However, concerns about the transparency of the internal police investigation have been raised.
On Thursday, Greens MP and the party’s justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson, gave a notice of motion in parliament that included urging the government to recognise that a former senior official at the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission said police examining the actions of colleagues couldn’t be relied upon.
It comes amid concerns the LECC also does not have the adequate powers to oversee the police’s investigation.
Higginson called for the investigation to instead be referred to the LECC, and for the government to respond to the commission’s reports that police had limited training when it comes to dealing with matters involving mental health.
“The LECC has indicated that they can investigate the actions of NSW Police that led to the tragic death of Clare Nowland but the matter needs to be referred to them by the commissioner of police. The commissioner must now do this. We cannot have police investigating police. An elderly, vulnerable woman has died [allegedly] due to police actions. How this happened and all of the circumstances need to be independently investigated,” Higginson said.
“I have written to the police commissioner and minister this morning calling for them to refer the issue for independent investigation.”
Pressure had been mounting on the NSW government to require police to publicly release the body-worn camera footage of the two police officers that attended the incident.
On Wednesday, Damien Tudehope, the leader of the NSW opposition in the legislative assembly, moved a motion with support from the Greens which included a call for the footage to be released. The government sided with One Nation to strike from the motion a call for its release, alongside an expression of concern at the lack of transparency and publicly available information on the incident.
But David Heilpern, a former magistrate and the dean of law at Southern Cross University who had also called for the video be released immediately, said it would be up the courts now White has been charged.
“Police have acted much more quickly than I’ve seen before to lay charges,” he said, adding it can often take up to two years between an incident occurring and charged being laid.
“There’s now a criminal process which will take its course and that will probably be a jury trial.”
On Thursday the premier, Chris Minns, sent condolences to Nowland’s children and grandchildren.
“This is a very traumatic event, and would have been particularly sad for that family,” he told reporters.
“It’s very important for police to be able to do their job, and the investigation should not be hindered by political interference.”
