BREAKING: Jury finds SA doctor Lauren Dickason guilty of murder

South African doctor Lauren Dickason was found guilty of murder in the High Court in Christchurch, New Zealand on Wednesday, 16 August.

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Dickason stood emotionless in the dock as she was found guilty of murdering her three young children.

Dickason, 42, denied charges of murdering her twin daughters Maya and Karla, 2, and their older sister Liané, 6, in Timaru on the night of 16 September 2021 while her husband was out for dinner with colleagues.

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The family emigrated from Pretoria in South Africa, the previous month, with Dickason’s husband Graham, an orthopaedic surgeon, taking up a post at Timaru Hospital.

According to the Stuff website, the Crown argued Dickason was depressed, but killed her children out of anger at their behaviour after months of struggle with various stressors.

The defence argued Dickason was so severely depressed and stressed she decided to end her life and take the children with her because she believed they were better off dead.

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Judge Cameron Mander thanked the jury of eight women and four men for their service.

He said the trial had been difficult and gruelling and that it had involved distressing evidence that had likely taken a toll on each juror.

Some members cried as they left the courtroom.

The trial lasted five weeks.

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