Triple-murder accused mum not in court as case called

The case of a woman charged with murdering her three young daughters in their Timaru home was called in court yesterday but the accused did not appear in person.

It has been confirmed that she will go on trial next year.

She was excused from being in court after her medical team revealed it would not be in her best interests.

Lauren Anne Dickason allegedly killed 6-year-old Liane, and 2-yearold twins Maya and Karla at their Timaru home on September 16.

Her husband, orthopaedic surgeon Graham Dickason, found the three children dead and his wife in a serious condition when he arrived home from a dinner with colleagues.

The family had emigrated to New Zealand from South Africa and had only been in Timaru two weeks— following a stint in MIQ— when the children died.

The specific details of their deaths have been suppressed.

Dickason has not attended any of her court hearings since her first appearance two days after the three children were killed.

The first appearance was in the Timaru District Court and subsequent dates have been in the High Court at Timaru, held in Christchurch.

In October her lawyer entered pleas of not guilty to all three murder charges with Dickason’s signed consent.

A trial date was set for 2023. Several scheduled court dates since then have been adjourned as health assessments for the accused killer continued.

Yesterday, Justice Cameron Mander excused Dickason’s attendance but the callover for her case went ahead. He said her appearance was excused on advice from her managing clinician.

He said it was thought “at this stage it was thought best not to expose her to the court setting”.

Justice Mander continued her remand in custody — in the medium secure psychiatric unit at Hillmorton — until her next court appearance on July 29.

It is understood some members of the Dickason family watched yesterday’s court hearing via remote access links from overseas.