A 95-year-old grandmother tasered by police in a care home has died in hospital from her injuries.
Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old mother-of-eight, was found by staff holding a knife at Yallambee Lodge, in southern New South Wales, Australia.
The dementia sufferer, who weighs just 43kg, was "slowly" approached by officers just after 4am last Wednesday.
Kristian White, 33, a senior constable for the NSW force, then shot Ms Nowland with his taser.
She collapsed to the ground, hitting her head and suffering a bleed on the brain as a result of the fall.
White has now been charged with causing grievous bodily harm, actual bodily harm and common assault.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb told a press conference: "This matter now is before the court and there's little more that I can say about it other than to say that the Nowland family have been informed of this development".
She added that her "thoughts and prayers" were with Mrs Nowland and her family.
Andrew Thaler, who knows the family, told the Guardian Australia last week: "The police tasered this woman twice, once in front of her chest, and once in the back, then she’s fallen and struck her head.
“The family are grieving because they don’t expect their nan to make it through the day, or tomorrow at the latest."
White could face up to 10 years in prison in relation to the GBH charge.
For the ABH charge, he could be sentenced to up to seven years, and common assault could land him another two.
He has been suspended from duty with pay.
Webb said that White's employment will be under constant review, but at the moment he is "suspended from the workplace".
The charges against him could be upgraded at a later date depending on the court proceedings, she added.
She was asked why she wouldn't release footage showing the elderly woman being tasered, to which she replied: "I'm not the investigator."
Josh Pallas, president of the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties, asked for police to stop using tasers on vulnerable people following the incident.
"Police overreach and disproportionality are common themes we see repeating over multiple incidents in NSW," Pallas said.
He continued: "Surely, there must be more appropriate ways to deal with non-compliant people who are suffering."
In February a review was released by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission examining 210 incidents involving the use of force by New South Wales police officers between May 2020 and May 2021.
It found tasers were used during 16 incidents.
The commission said in the report this was “relatively infrequently”.
