South African doctor Lauren Dickason has reportedly been served with a deportation order by Immigration New Zealand after having been found guilty of murdering her children in that country in 2021, and sentenced to an effective 18 years in a mental health unit.
The New Zealand Herald confirmed this week that she had been served with a deportation order, meaning she would be released on parole and then leave the country on the earliest possible flight back to South Africa.
National manager of compliance at Immigration New Zealand Fadia Mudafar said they planned to “proceed with her deportation upon completion of her sentence”.
Mudafar added that as with all deportations after release from prison, Dickason’s situation would be assessed before the deportation takes place.
During sentencing, Justice Cameron Mander ruled that life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years or more “would be manifestly unjust” for Dickason, and instead, handed down three sentences of 18 years, to be served concurrently.
News24 understands that Dickason intends to appeal her convictions.
During her five-week trial the jury was told that new stressors in Dickason’s life had caused her to become depressed and that her actions on the night of the murders were “a reaction to the anger and frustration at her children’s misbehaviour”, which caused her to snap.
The state said while Dickason was depressed, she acted out of anger and resentment toward the children. The prosecution argued that she knew that what she was doing was morally wrong, with the defence arguing that Dickason had not fully recovered from her postpartum depression.
Mander said he believed Dickason’s actions were the product of her mental disorder and that she was a loving mother.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Dickason plans to appeal child murder convictions
Lauren Dickason gets 18 years for daughters’ murders
Imprisoning mentally ill Dickason not rehabilitation, say experts