Footage surfaces of police handcuffing dementia patient after 95-year-old taser scandal
Relatives of an 83-year-old dementia patient have released footage of the moment the elderly woman was double-handcuffed by six police officers in an aged care home, with the video dropping only a week after Australian police tasered a 95-year-old woman who is now in end-of-life care.
The footage, released by furious relatives of the then 81-year-old woman, was captured at a Sydney aged care home in 2020.
Rachel Grahame's family believe New South Wales police have 'have learned nothing' after they brutally handcuffed the then-81-year-old at St Basil’s aged care home in Randwick after she took a lanyard and an electronic device from a staff desk.
Grahame's family sued NSW police over the incident and were paid compensation in 2021.
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But, in the wake of 95-year-old Clare Rowland's savage tasering in the NSW town of Cooma, Grahame's family have released the 2020 footage.
In the footage, Grahame can be heard screaming on the body-worn video as she is forced into handcuffs by police in October 2020.
Police can be seen placing two sets of restraints on Grahame as she yelled 'get away from me' and told police the restraints were hurting her.
The then-81-year-old dementia patient weighed only 45kg at the time.
The daughter of another St Basil's resident Annette Harmanis told 7NEWS it was 'mind-blowing' to see police use such force on a frail elderly resident.
"Most of these people don't know what they’re doing, either," Harmanis said.
The shock footage comes as detectives investigate the use of the taser on 95-year-old Clare Nowland.
She was tasered by police after she took a steak knife from the care home kitchen and was holding it while shuffling around Yallambee Lodge care home on her walking frame.
Nowland then fell and struck her head on the floor, suffering from critical injuries before being taken to Cooma District Hospital on Wednesday (17 May).
Family have been around her bedside, with a representative for Nowland's relatives saying they don't expect her to survive.
She is now receiving end-of-life care at Cooma District Hospital, surrounded by her family.
The whole incident was captured on the body-worn camera of the officers involved, which will now be used in an investigation.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said that she does not plan to watch the footage back before all of the statements and other evidence are reviewed.
Speaking to Sydney’s Radio 2GB on Monday, Webb said: “It may be the case in the future where I have to make a determination based on a brief of evidence, without being tainted by having seen a part of the brief without context.
“It’s important that we follow a process.
“I will make my determination impartially.”
Rachel Lang