An acting police sergeant who saw a subordinate officer taser a 95-year-old woman holding a knife said this was the best they could have done to respond to the threat, a jury has heard.
Senior Constable Kristian James Samuel White fired his stun gun at Clare Nowland in a treatment room at Yallambee Lodge aged care home in the southern NSW town of Cooma in the early hours of May 17, 2023.
The great-grandmother, who had symptoms of dementia, fell backwards, hitting her head and died a week later in hospital.
Senior Constable Jessica Pank attended Yallambee Lodge with White when she was acting sergeant.
She gave evidence at his NSW Supreme Court manslaughter trial on Thursday, saying she felt “comfortable” when the 34-year-old pulled out his Taser and aimed it at the 95-year-old shuffling towards them.
In an hours-long interview with NSW Police two days after the incident, she said she agreed with White that they had done what they could.
“You did your best in that situation to respond to the threat that you perceived?” asked defence barrister Troy Edwards SC.
“Yes,” Sen Const Pank replied.
She was White’s supervising officer at the time, and tried twice to grab the knife from Mrs Nowland and then kicked the wheels of her walker into the wall of the treatment room where she was ultimately tasered.
During the police interview, Sen Const Pank said she felt scared for her physical safety because of the sharpness of the knife and the look in the 95-year-old’s eyes.
“When she looked at me when I got close it was this wave of darkness that went over her face,” she said.
Sen Const Pank disputed suggestions by crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC that Mrs Nowland wasn’t even holding the knife when she first raised her hand against the police officers.
The great-grandmother could not raise the weapon while moving as she had to grip her walker, the constable admitted.
White has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, claiming he acted lawfully under his duties as a police officer.
Paramedics Anna Hofner and Kingsley Newman were called to the scene around 4am and were present when Mrs Nowland was tasered.
The pair then stretchered her to the ambulance, taking her under lights and sirens to Cooma Hospital.
Mr Newman told the jury Mrs Nowland showed concerning and unusual medical signs even when loaded into the ambulance.
These included a large bruise-like mark called a haematoma which was around five or six centimetres, he said.
Her face also indicated there was something wrong internally.
“She had some facial droop on the opposite side to the injury indicating a pretty significant brain bleed,” he told the court.
After the incident, Senior Const Pank radioed into Cooma police station that Mrs Nowland had a “small lump” on her head but that the paramedics were managing it.
Ms Hofner told the court she had stepped back from Mrs Nowland when the 95-year-old stood up and walked towards the door of the treatment room holding the knife.
“I believe she was close enough that if she decided to strike out with the knife I could have potentially been hit,” she told the jury.
However, she backtracked from this under questioning by Mr Hatfield, admitting she was at a safe distance and was not close enough to be stabbed.
“I suggest to you there was no danger of any of you being struck by her, do you agree or disagree?” Mr Hatfield asked.
“I agree,” said Ms Hofner.
The paramedic said she did not see how the situation could have been resolved peacefully given Mrs Nowland’s refusal to relinquish the knife.
In response, Mr Hatfield suggested they could have simply given her time.
“Possibly but how long would we have to wait?” Ms Hofner asked.
The jury previously heard that it was only around three minutes after the group found Mrs Nowland in the treatment room that White shot her with the taser.
The trial continues on Friday.
