Pretoria mom accused of killing daughters in New Zealand plans to use ‘insanity defence’
Durban - A South African woman, accused of killing her three children in their New Zealand home in September 2021, appeared in court on June 1.
New Zealand media reported that Lauren Dickason's legal team would base their case on insanity and infanticide.
Lauren Anne Dickason appeared physically in the Timaru District Court for the first time after she was remanded in custody at the Hillmorton Hospital. She appeared via audio-visual link on previous occasions.
The NZ Herald reported that Dickason appeared before Justice Rob Osborne in the High Court before her trial which due to get under way on July 17.
According to the NZ Herald, three defence experts agreed that at the time the children died Dickason was insane and was therefore not criminally culpable.
This will be opposed when the two week trial gets underway.
IOL previously reported that Dickason, a doctor from Pretoria, was charged for the murders of twins Maya and Karla, two, and their elder sister Liane, six. The girls were allegedly strangled with cable ties and found by their father, Graham Dickason, an orthopaedic surgeon.
The family had immigrated to New Zealand in August 2021 and had just come out of strict quarantine. They had been in their new home in Timaru in the Canterbury area of New Zealand for a week when the tragedy occurred.
At the time, speculation was rife that Dickason had been off her chronic medication to meet the country’s strict immigration criteria.
New Zealand has strict requirements and potential immigrants can be turned down on the basis of a chronic illness, or if they do not meet “an acceptable standard of health”.
In December 2021, IOL reported that Graham had returned to SA. It is unclear if he has to travel back to NZ for the legal proceedings.
Accordin to the NZ Herald, Graham Dickason may be called to give evidence about the day his children were killed and at least four expert witnesses will speak to whether the alleged murderer was insane or not at the time of the killings.
IOL