Damning first draft of Clare Nowland statement found
New documents have brought forth allegations that the NSW police force removed key elements in their initial statement regarding the death of 95-year-old Clare Nowland.
The mother-of-eight passed away in Cooma Hospital on May 24, one week after she was tasered by a police officer at her Yallambee Lodge aged care facility. Nowland had reportedly been approaching law enforcement with her walking frame and a steak knife when she was tasered, before she fell backwards and fractured her skull.
In the wake of the incident, Police Commissioner Karen Webb reportedly approved a 71-word press release - one that made no mention of the knife, the taser, or even Nowland’s movements.
“A critical incident investigation has been launched after an elderly woman sustained injuries during an interaction with police at an aged care facility in the state’s south today,” it read.
“The 95-year-old woman was taken to Cooma District Hospital, where her condition is being monitored. A critical incident team will now investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident. That investigation will be subject to independent review.
“No further details are available at this time.”
However, ‘new’ documents - obtained by the Australian Associated Press under Freedom of Information laws - have revealed that there was another draft, 100 words longer than the released statement, that mentions those key aspects of the case.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald - who obtained the internal emails regarding the statement - that draft had been sent to NSW Police Executive Director of Public Affairs Elizabeth Deegan for review, but had been cut by more than half mere hours later, leading the SMH to run with the headline "Top NSW cops covered up Tasering of Clare Nowland".
The original 171-word document made mention of the reports that a Yallambee Lodge resident had a knife, and noted that two officers had arrived to find a woman “still armed … in a small room”.
“Police and paramedics attempted to speak to the woman; however, all instructions were ignored,” it continued. “When she stood up and moved towards officers, a taser was deployed by a constable.”
It explained that the woman had received treatment from paramedics at the scene, leaving room for information on her condition. It even mentioned that the officer who had deployed the taser was under review.
Commissioner Webb defended the decision to edit their original draft while speaking to 2GB’s Ben Fordham, denying that the police force had hidden anything when she told him that “early in the investigation it was necessary for us to make sure that the family were aware of what the circumstances were.
“Mrs Nowland has a large family and we didn’t want that family to hear on the radio on TV what had happened to their mum, and so we had to be a bit sensitive to that, and when we were able to talk about it we did.”
She added that it was “a very sensitive matter”, and that it was an “unusual” circumstance with everyone seeking answers, but that “it’s appropriate we think about and respect that family, and certainly they deserve that.
“It was important that the family were informed of the situation in a factual manner before we went public on it - I think that’s very necessary and I’m sure that family appreciates that now.”
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