Demented woman dies who was tasered by Australian police

The 95-year-old woman with dementia who was hospitalized last week in the nursing home where she lived getaserd by Australian police, died. As a result of the police action, the woman fell on her head and suffered a skull fracture. She was hospitalized in critical condition, where she died a week later.

“Ms. Nowland passed away peacefully in hospital at 7pm tonight, with family and loved ones asking for privacy at this sad and difficult time,” a police statement said.

The officer who tasered her has been suspended and faces charges of grievous bodily harm and assault. He is due to appear in court next week. The incident was recorded on police bodycams.

Clare Nowland had obtained a knife in the kitchen at the care home where she lived in the state of New South Wales and walked through the building with it. The staff of the home was unable to take the knife. After hours, therefore, the help of the police was called in.

The two agents who had been summoned talked to her for some time in vain. As the woman approached them, carrying her walker and the knife, one of them, a 33-year-old man, used his taser.

A spokesman for the family said afterwards that the woman needed a kind word and help, not the arm of the law. She was 95 years old, 1.55 meters tall and, according to relatives, weighed 43 kilograms. “She can’t walk on her own without support. That’s why she had a walker. And then they use a taser.”

In Australia, the reaction of the police has been outraged. The fellow residents in Cooma, the town where the nursing home is located, are also shocked. “You don’t hear anything about her other than that she is a beautiful person. Everyone knows this lady that way.”