Taser victim's family break silence following verdict
Clare Nowland's daughter, Kerrie Paske, has broken her silence for the first time in 18 months since her 95-year-old mum died after she was tasered by a police officer.
On Wednesday, after Senior Constable Kristian White was found guilty of the manslaughter of her mother, Kerrie finally opened up about her grief.
"What happened to mum shouldn't have happened. She didn't deserve it," she told A Current Affair.
Kerrie broke down in tears outside the NSW Supreme Court after the jury handed down its verdict,
She recalled the final conversation she had with her mother shortly after the incident.
"Right at the end I just told her how much I loved her and thanked her for a beautiful life," she told A Current Affair.
"Pretty quickly after that she went."
Kerrie is one of Nowland's eight children, and said that the jury's verdict was "good news" for all of them.
"We all think we got the best mum, she was a good mum. She was a tough lady," she added.
"She didn't deserve that, she really didn't."
While Nowland's family maintained their silence since her death, Kerrie revealed that they were worried their mother's memory would be tarnished because she was holding a knife during the confrontation with police.
"At the very start of all this court case they were painting a real picture of Mum being a really vicious sort of a lady - or that's how I felt," Kerrie recalled.
"That worried me a little bit but she's just not like that."
"It's all very well mentioning this knife but she used to get fixated on things. It used to be pens," she explained.
"When we first heard (of the confrontation), I thought 'I bet she thought she had a pen in her hand', but she didn't."
Nowland is survived by her eight children, 24 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren, with many of them coming from Cooma to sit in the public gallery throughout the trial.
Following the guilty verdict, Senior Constable White's employment is "under review", as he was previously suspended with pay throughout the proceedings.
"The officer's employment is currently under review. I expect to consider that matter next week," NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb told reporters on Wednesday afternoon.
"The death of Clare Nowland is a terrible tragedy and my deepest condolences go to the Nowland family,' Commissioner Webb added.
"This should never have happened."
Images: A Current Affair