Lauren Anne Dickason: Mum who smothered her children to death launches appeal against her convictions Lauren Anne Dickason killed her three daughters Lifeline 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 READ MORE: How mentally-ill mother Lauren Dickason smothered her two-year-old twins and their sister, six, to death By Ashley Nickel For Daily Mail Australia Published: 06:04 EDT, 5 August 2024 | Updated: 06:10 EDT, 5 August 2024 e-mail A South African mother who killed her three little girls just five days after moving to a quiet seaside town in New Zealand has launched an appeal against her murder convictions. Lauren Anne Dickason, 41, was recently sentenced to 18 years jail after a jury found her guilty of murdering daughters Liane, six, and two-year-old twins Maya and Karla on September 16, 2021. Justice Mander did not impose a life sentence on Dickason or declare a minimum time before she could apply for parole as he believed doing so would be unjust due to her poor mental health.
He made an order under the Mental Health Act which detained Dickason as a special patient in Hillmorton Hospital's secure mental health unit. It was decided the mother could apply to be transferred to prison for the remainder of her sentence if she was deemed well enough. She currently remains hospitalised.
This was in spite of a jury voting 11-1 that Dickason did murder her children and did not commit the act in insanity or infanticide, where a mother kills her child due to a disturbed mind. Six week.