SA’s mum of three, Lauren Dickason, to use insanity & infanticide defence in murder trial

South African mother of three, Lauren Dickason, will stand trial for the murders of her three small children at the High Court in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 17 July.

The New Zealand Herald reports Dickason is likely to plead insanity in connection with the triple homicide involving her three small daughters.

“It has been confirmed she will mount a defence of insanity and infanticide at her trial next month,” stated the report.

Another report by RNZ states that Dickason, who is in custody at a psychiatric unit at Hillmorton Hospital, may argue, as part of an infanticide defence, that “mental disturbance occurred as a direct result of childbirth”.

The defence has lined up three experts to testify in the case.

On Friday, High Court Justice Rob Osborne ruled against media applications to photograph Dickason in the dock, but said the decision did not imply permission would be refused closer to trial.

Dickason appears in court

Dickason made her first appearance at the High Court in Christchurch last Friday, since her first appearance at the Timaru District Court two days after her daughter’s murders.

She has not appeared in any hearings related to the matter since that first appearance last September, as she was still admitted at the Hillmorton Hospital.

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Dickason allegedly killed six-year-old Liané and two-year-old twins Maya and Karla at their Timaru home while their father was at a work-related dinner.

Emigration for a better life

The Dickason family had emigrated from Tshwane to New Zealand in late August, during the Covid-19 pandemic when countries still imposed lengthy periods of quarantine between travelling.

The family had been in isolation for two weeks before being allowed to move to their new home.

Dickason’s husband, Graham Dickason, an orthopaedic surgeon, had just begun his new job at the Timaru Hospital.

When he got home from work, he discovered the bodies of his three daughters and wife in serious condition. Neighbours also reported hearing “wailing and sobbing” from the house and called emergency services.

ALSO READ: Trial set for SA murder-accused mum of three daughters in New Zealand

The 40-year-old wife was taken to hospital in serious condition and into custody shortly thereafter, where she was later arrested and charged with the children’s murders on 17 September.

While details around the murders have been kept under wraps, it’s understood Dickason allegedly strangled her daughters with cable ties.

Graham back in SA

Graham returned to South Africa a few weeks after the murders and has not returned to New Zealand. The Christchurch prosecution has applied for Graham to give evidence in the trial via an audiovisual link, but Dickason’s legal representative opposed this.

The family had reportedly struggled to conceive children before their first daughter, Liané, was born.

The triple murder rocked the small, usually quiet town of Timaru, where an average of 72 murders are reported yearly.

In the days that followed the children’s murder, reports revealed that Lauren had also been on medication for an undisclosed mental condition.

But due to strict requirements for New Zealand emigration, the 40-year-old, who is also a doctor, reportedly stopped taking her medication.

Vigils for the girls were held in Timaru shortly after their deaths – during which Graham indicated, via a letter, that he had forgiven his wife for their daughters’ murders.

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