A Catholic mass has been held by the bedside of great-grandmother Clare Nowland, who was tasered by a police officer, as she receives end-of-life care.
Father Mark Croker visited Mrs Nowland in Cooma District Hospital, NSW, on Sunday and said mass as her family held vigil.
He told media the 95-year-old was unconscious, but she looked “peaceful” and seemed to be able to hear her visitors.
“She looks peaceful, she’s not conscious but she certainly looks comfortable,” Father Croker told The Daily Telegraph.
The priest from St Patrick’s Catholic Church said Mrs Nowland’s eight children and their families were taking turns speaking to her.
“They are a big family, so they’re coming in and out … but they’re speaking to Clare, they say the last of your senses to go is your hearing, so we know she can hear us,” he told the news outlet.
“The thing with Clare is the dementia hadn’t completely taken hold, you could still have a conversation with her … she might get a bit confused, but that’s an age thing”.
Father Croker last spoke to Mrs Nowland a week earlier, when she was in hospital for a minor illness.
“We had a very good conversation, her daughter was there too … she had her knitting with her which was her thing in later life, she was in very good form,” he told The Telegraph.
Mrs Nowland was using a walking frame when she was hit with a taser at an aged care facility in Cooma in the early hours of Wednesday, after she allegedly failed to drop a steak knife.
She was critically injured when she was tasered and fell to the floor.
The incident was captured on body-worn camera by the two officers attending, but NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said she had not watched the video.
“I don’t really intend to, no,” Ms Webb said in Sydney on Saturday.
“I’ve heard what’s in the body-worn, and I don’t see it necessary that I actually view it.”
Police have rejected calls to release the footage, which Ms Webb said was protected under the Surveillance Act.
“We don’t intend to release it unless there’s a process at the end of this that would allow it to be released.”
Staff from the Yallambee Lodge nursing home called police after Mrs Nowland, who has dementia and is 43 kilograms, took a serrated steak knife from the kitchen into a small treatment room.
Police and ambulance officers tried to get Mrs Nowland to drop the knife before a senior constable fired his Taser once as she slowly approached them.
She fell and struck her head on the floor.
The critical incident investigation has been elevated to “level one” due to Mrs Nowland suffering an injury that could lead to her death.
Police had been with Mrs Nowland’s family since the incident, and they deserved a thorough investigation to take place without speculation, Ms Webb said.
“What we know so far is what happened, what we don’t yet know is why it happened,” she said.
“Mrs Nowland and her family deserve that this is done properly. This will take time,” the commissioner said.
“We need to ensure that the officers involved in this matter are afforded procedural fairness, and that anything that we say [does not] prejudice the investigation.”
The investigation would be highly complex and sensitive, requiring detectives to interview all staff and residents from the aged care home.
“That’s a delicate and time consuming role that they have, but necessary,” Ms Webb said.
She said she had spent time at the Cooma District Hospital with the family on Friday, and the next few days would likely be difficult for them.
“My condolences and thoughts are with the family at the moment,” she said.
Family friend and community advocate Andrew Thaler said Mrs Nowland’s condition had worsened as her family remained by her bedside.
“Her breathing has been getting shallower, but she’s still with us,” he said on Saturday.
The officer who fired the Taser joined the force 12 years ago.
He has been taken off active duty after last week’s incident. He was being supported by his local command and his welfare was being monitored, Ms Webb said.
Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter, who is leading the investigation, declined to say whether the officer might face criminal charges, saying it would breach procedural fairness.
Mr Cotter said he had seen the body camera footage and agreed with a family friend it was confronting. He also declined to release it publicly.
