Lauren Dickason: Killer mum’s sentencing date set, while support at home grows
Lauren Dickason, the South African woman who was found guilty of murdering her three daughters, will be sentenced in December, New Zealand media reported.
After a five week trial, in which distressing details about the night of the murder were exposed, Lauren was found guilty by 11 out of the 12 jurors.
Lauren will be sentenced for the triple murder on December 19, Stuff.NZ reported.
On September 16, 2021, Lauren killed her three daughters, six-year-old Liané, and two-year-old twins Maya and Karla at the Dickason family home on Queen Street in Timaru, New Zealand.
Her husband Graham Dickason was not at home when she committed the murders.
Lauren admitted to killing the children, but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Lauren’s attorneys argued that she was severely depressed at the time and that she had not recovered from post-partum depression.
The defence brought evidence from three expert witnesses during the trial that concluded that Lauren was not of sound mind when she took the lives of her children and also tried to take her own.
Their evidence was not sufficient to convince the jury.
Lauren was found guilty on August 16, she has been in custody at Hillmorton Hospital, a state-run mental health facility, and has been undergoing medical evaluations.
During court on Friday, it was heard that Lauren’s progress reports from Hillmorton Hospital will be reviewed by the court in two weeks, Stuff.NZ wrote.
Since Lauren was found guilty, support for her across the world, has grown.
A Facebook group called “Support for Lauren Dickason” has gained around a thousand members, including Lauren’s father Malcolm Fawkes.
The group mainly comprises women, many of whom have shared their sympathies toward her.
IOL also reached out to Malcolm Fawkes over social media and is awaiting a response from him.
The most recent discussion on the group indicated that members were organising a protest for Lauren in Christchurch.
The member who proposed the protest, planned for November, a month before Lauren’s sentencing, indicated that she would be flying to Christchurch from Melbourne, Australia.
A South African woman also wanted to help organise the protest by creating marketing materials.
There has also been a petition started by Tanya Parker on August 21 to Justice Cameron Mander, to consider the highly studied effects of post-partum depression when sentencing her for murder.
“This petition urges that post-partum depression be acknowledged in the legal profession as an urgent public health issue that needs to be addressed.
“We plead to the High Court Judge Cameron Mander to consider this in his sentencing of Lauren. We appeal for wisdom, humanity and compassion in her sentencing,” read the petition.
Since the petition was started, it has garnered 444 signatures.
The petition included a medical outlook on post-partum depression from Associate Professor Mark Huthwaite from the Regional Specialist Maternal Mental Health Service in Wellington.
IOL