South African doctor and convicted triple murderer Lauren Dickason, found guilty in August of murdering her three children in their New Zealand home, has to wait until February next year for sentencing.
Her sentencing date, which was set down for 19 December, has now been adjourned, according to the New Zealand Herald, with a nominal date set for 2 February 2024, when a new sentencing hearing date could be set.
Dickason, who was found guilty of murder after strangling and smothering her three daughters on 16 September 2021, had pleaded not guilty to the charges, but the jury returned a majority verdict of guilty.
News4 reports that under New Zealand law, the minimum term of imprisonment for murder is a life sentence.
However, at the sentencing, Judge Cameron Mander is expected to determine if there is a minimum non-parole period, as well as where Dickason will serve her sentence – in prison or at a forensic psychiatric facility.
She is currently in custody at a secure psychiatric unit at Hillmorton Hospital, where she has spent almost all of her time in custody. She is under 24/7 monitoring, heavily medicated and receiving ongoing intensive treatment for her mental health.
During Dickason’s five-week trial, multiple experts testified to her mental health at the time of the murders, with some suggesting that the stress of immigration contributed to her mental state.
The jury also heard she had experienced postpartum depression and had, on multiple occasions, said she might hurt her children.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Lauren Dickason: 'I sleep with teddy bears embroidered with their names.'
Dickason to be sentenced in December
Dickason guilty of murders as jury rejects post-partum depression defence