Furious relatives of an 81-year-old dementia patient brutally double-handcuffed by cops in an aged care home in 2020 have released disturbing footage of the incident.
Australians are reeling after Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old dementia patient, was tasered by police officers at the Yallambee Lodge aged care home in Cooma, NSW at around 4.15am on Wednesday morning.
Staff had called police after she was found holding a steak knife in the facility, and tragically, it has since emerged that Mrs Nowland is now receiving end of life care as a result of injuries sustained in the incident, after she fell and hit her head.
Clare Nowland, 95, is receiving end of life care after being tasered by police at an aged care home in Cooma last week. Picture: Supplied
Now, the family of Rachel Grahame are speaking out after the elderly woman was roughly handcuffed by six officers at the St Basil’s aged care home in Randwick in Sydney’s east several years ago.
Ms Grahame was 81 at the time and weighed just 45kg when she was manhandled by officers after taking a lanyard and an electronic device from a staff desk.
Her family sued NSW police over the incident and were paid compensation in 2021, but have now released footage taken at the scene as they believe Mrs Nowland’s treatment proved “police have learned nothing”.
Rachel Grahame was handcuffed by police at St Basil’s aged care home in Randwick on October 31, 2020. Picture: 7 News
The disturbing footage shows the frail, elderly woman in distress screaming for “help” and branding one cop a “big bully” and a “big brute” as her arms and legs were initially restrained by officers, and then two sets of handcuffs.
According to The Guardian, she spent weeks in hospital after being left in handcuffs for more than 20 minutes.
Ms Grahame’s daughter Emma Grahame told the ABC that she was speaking out now in the wake of Mrs Nowland’s assault to raise awareness about the treatment of those who “can’t defend themselves”.
“I’m sure that the family of Clare Nowland is feeling the same way, that they’ve done their best to try and keep her safe and it’s been the opposite of that,” Ms Grahame said.
“We never got an apology, we never got any acknowledgment that they had done anything wrong.
Rachel Grahame’s family say they never received an apology. Picture: 7 News
The distressed woman can be heard calling for help in the footage. Picture: 7 News
“Why isn’t there some psychiatric team that can come and help when a situation is difficult?”
She also told The Guardian police shouldn’t be called to aged care homes to deal with dementia patients.
News.com.au contacted NSW Police for comment.
It comes as Mrs Nowland’s priest, Father Mark Croker, revealed on Sunday night that the mother of eight, who was only in the early stages of dementia, was not conscious.
“She looks peaceful, she’s not conscious but she certainly looks comfortable,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“They are a big family, so they’re coming in and out … but they’re speaking to Clare, they say the last of your senses to go is your hearing, so we know she can hear us.
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“The thing with Clare is the dementia hadn’t completely taken hold, you could still have a conversation with her … she might get a bit confused, but that’s an age thing.”
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the force had no intention of releasing “confronting” bodycam footage of Mrs Nowland’s tasering, although it will be reviewed as part of an investigation, which is now under the care of a critical incident team and homicide squad detectives from Sydney.