New Zealand court sentenced Lauren Dickason to 18 years imprisonment on Wednesday, June 26, for the 2021 murder of her three young daughters.
According to a court official at Christchurch High Court, Lauren will begin her sentence at a mental health hospital under state custody for the triple killings.
In a statement following her sentencing, Dickason expressed remorse, saying she had failed her children and her husband, who has since moved back to South Africa.
“I take responsibility for taking our three beautiful girls from this world.
“I would like to take this opportunity to convey the deepest and most sincere remorse for the extreme pain and hurt caused to my children and my family by my actions,”she said.
Justice Cameron Mander did not impose a minimum non-parole period in sentencing Lauren Dickason, who avoided the usual life imprisonment penalty for murder in New Zealand.
Lauren was found guilty last August on three counts of murder for smothering her two year old twins Maya and Karla and her six years old daughter, Liane.
The tragic killings took place in September 2021 at their home in Timaru while her husband was out for dinner with colleagues.
He discovered the bodies of his children upon returning home.
The family had relocated to New Zealand from South Africa just weeks before the incident.
During last year’s trial, Dickason admitted to killing the girls but argued a defense of insanity and infanticide, claiming that the stress of the move had triggered her actions.
Under New Zealand law, infanticide serves as a defense for a mother who causes the death of her child when, at the time of the offense the balance of her mind was disturbed.
Dickason’s lawyer argued that a mental health unit was the most appropriate place for her given her condition.
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