Sharri Markson rips into Police Commissioner after refusal to watch video of woman, 95, Tasered

Sky News Australia host Sharri Markson has unleashed on the NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb, calling her ‘utterly hopeless’ over her handling of the Tasering of a 95-year-old great grandmother. 

Despite international outrage over the incident, Commissioner Webb has refused to view bodycam footage of dementia sufferer Clare Nowland being Tasered. 

Mrs Nowland, who weighs 43kg, was Tasered after she refused to drop a steak knife while she ‘slowly’ approached an officer in her walking frame at the Yallambie Lodge in southern NSW about 4am last Wednesday. 

‘We haven’t seen any leadership on this. The Police Commissioner as you know, is utterly hopeless,’ Markson said on Wednesday night. 

‘Instead of showing any sense of empathy or understanding of how angry everyone is, she has suggested that police shouldn’t be called to nursing homes.’

Sharri Markson said Police Commissioner Karen Webb (pictured) has not shown leadership

Markson said Commissioner Webb was being evasive, that whether or not the police are called to nursing homes ‘wasn’t the issue’.

‘Police should have the common sense not to shoot with a gun or a taser an elderly woman on a Zimmer frame moving slowly weighing just 43 kg,’ she said.

The presenter said it is in the NSW Police’s own rules not to use a Taser on the elderly.

She said the situation was then worsened by what happened after Mrs Nowland was Tasered.

‘Police sent in to investigate what had happened are understood have removed her clothes, her pyjamas for examination.

‘She was understood to have been left naked in the hospital in her own bed. The indignity is horrendous,’ she said.

Markson added that the police are ‘Ducking for cover’.

Clare Nowland (pictured), who weighs 43kg, was Tasered after she refused to drop a steak knife while she ‘slowly’ approached an officer in her walking frame at the Yallambie Lodge in southern NSW about 4am last Wednesday

‘What has happened to Clare Nowland is the biggest police scandal in years and yet our police and political leadership are missing. It’s abysmal.’

She accused Commissioner Webb of at first being ‘in hiding and now she’s acting defensively’. 

The presenter added that the NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley ‘is still in hiding, refusing to do any interviews. 

‘A full week since Clare was tasered and Catley hasn’t given an interview at all. Not one.

‘Instead, she stood up in parliament and accused the Liberal Party of politicising this matter and said the investigation should just be able to run its course …

‘It’s just unbelievable to know that this is the biggest story and this is what the Police Minister’s saying. Appalling.’

Daily Mail Australia has contacted both the Police Commissioner and Police Minister seeking comment.