Suspended With Pay of Course
95 pound Clare Nowland was critically injured when police responded to reports she was wandering her care home with a steak knife around 4am on Wednesday. “She had a walking frame. But she had a knife,” Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Cotter told media on Friday.
An investigation into the incident continues, as Ms Nowland receives “end of life care” in hospital. Ms Nowland is believed to have suffered a fractured skull and a serious brain bleed after falling and hitting her head during the incident.
The suspended officer who has about 12 years’ experience once unlawfully detained a suspect during an encounter in which his shift partner allegedly threatened to break the man’s legs, the Herald revealed.
The 2020 incident earned a rebuke from a “horrified” Canberra magistrate who said the conduct of the two officers was “outrageous and “unprofessional”.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb spoke earlier on Tuesday on Today on Nine confirming she was aware of the senior constable’s history.
In a statement on Monday, Ms Nowland’s family said that they were grateful for the outpouring of support from around the world, but appealed for privacy amid a “worrying and distressing time”.
“Well respected, much loved and a giving member of her local community, Clare is the loving and gentle-natured matriarch of the Nowland family,” the statement said.
