00:02Claire Nowland was 95 years old and a resident of Yolambi Lodge Aged Care in Cooma in the New
00:08South Wales Snowy Mountains in May 2023 when she was tasered by a serving New South Wales police
00:14officer. It was the early hours of a morning when Claire Nowland was walking around that
00:19aged care centre. She was entering some residents rooms at one point using her walker and holding
00:25two knives and a jar of prunes. Emergency services were called to the aged care centre by one of the
00:31staff members who needed assistance there. That group located Claire Nowland in a nurse's room when
00:36she was using a walker and holding a steak knife against that walker. Senior Constable Christian
00:42White was among that group of emergency service personnel called to the site that morning.
00:47Within three minutes of first encountering Claire Nowland in the nurse's room, Christian White
00:53attempted to speak to Ms Nowland, gave her a few warnings before raising his taser, saying the
00:59words bugger it and deploying that taser on the 95 year old who at the time weighed 47 and a
01:06half
01:06kilograms. She fell backward, hit her head and died in hospital one week later after suffering an
01:12inoperable brain bleed. In the aftermath of that incident in 2024, Christian White underwent a Supreme
01:18Court trial. He was convicted of manslaughter but avoided jail time over the death of Claire Nowland.
01:24He was instead sentenced to a two-year community correction order and ordered to undertake 425
01:30hours of community service. Today in the Queenbeyan Coroner's Court in southern New South Wales, a
01:37coronial inquest will get underway into Ms Nowland's death. Now that coronial inquest is expected to
01:43mostly focus on training given to aged care staff and emergency service personnel in dealing with
01:49people experiencing dementia as well as looking into de-escalation tactics when it comes to aged care
01:56homes and how to safely deal with patients there in situations. Now we are expecting a busy three days
02:03here in the Queenbeyan Coroner's Court. A series of witnesses are expected to take to the stand and give
02:08evidence including representatives from New South Wales Police, Ambulance Paramedics, Safety Personnel,
02:13and Dementia Education and Training groups.
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