{"id":489265,"date":"2026-06-22T03:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T03:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/489265\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T03:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T03:11:12","slug":"triple-child-killer-lauren-dickason-to-challenge-murder-convictions-months-before-first-parole-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/489265\/","title":{"rendered":"Triple child killer Lauren Dickason to challenge murder convictions months before first parole hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

In June 2024, Justice Cameron Mander handed down a finite sentence of 18 years. <\/p>\n

He did not impose a life sentence nor did he order her to serve a minimum term of imprisonment before she could seek parole.<\/p>\n

He said that imposing a life sentence on the killer would be manifestly unjust \u2013 and that it was clear to him her mental illness was a causative factor in the deaths of the little girls.<\/p>\n

The next month, Dickason took her case to the Court of Appeal in a bid to have her convictions overturned.<\/p>\n

A date has now been set for a hearing.<\/p>\n

\"GrahamGraham and Lauren Dickason with their daughters, from left, Maya, Karla, and Liane.<\/p>\n

Dickason\u2019s case will be called in the Court of Appeal at Wellington on February 9, 2027.<\/p>\n

The hearing is set down for three days. <\/p>\n

An offender with a finite sentence and no minimum term becomes eligible for parole after serving one-third of their time.<\/p>\n

The Parole Board earlier confirmed that Dickason\u2019s official parole eligibility date has been recorded as September 19, 2027.<\/p>\n

Dickason\u2019s parole date falls just three years and two months after her sentencing.<\/p>\n

Alongside her sentence, an order was made that Dickason be detained as a special patient in a secure forensic mental health unit at Hillmorton Hospital in Christchurch. <\/p>\n

There, she will continue to receive the medication and specialist treatment she requires for her major depressive disorder.<\/p>\n

\"LaurenLauren Dickason, as the jury delivered a majority verdict finding her guilty of murdering her three children. Photo \/ George Heard<\/p>\n

Neither the medication nor specialist treatment would be available to Dickason in prison.<\/p>\n

Justice Mander said if Dickason\u2019s health improved to a point where she could be appropriately managed in prison, she should be transferred from the unit.<\/p>\n

But at the time of sentencing \u2013 and to date \u2013 her treatment needs were deemed \u201ccomplex\u201d, and she remained at high risk of self-harm, requiring constant monitoring.<\/p>\n

Dickason had emigrated to New Zealand from Pretoria, South Africa, with her daughters and then-husband Graham, an orthopaedic surgeon.<\/p>\n

The family had only been in Timaru two weeks \u2013 following a stint in MIQ \u2013 when the children died.<\/p>\n

\"GrahamGraham and Lauren Dickason with their daughters before the alleged murders. Photo \/ Facebook <\/p>\n

Graham Dickason found the three children dead and his wife in a serious condition when he arrived home from a dinner with colleagues.<\/p>\n

In January this year, it was reported that Graham Dickason had remarried in South Africa.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Pretoria-born doctor has since moved back to South Africa to rebuild his life after his children were killed. <\/p>\n

Sources close to him told South African publication You that he was a married man once again and his new wife\u2019s identity was being kept quiet to protect her privacy, given the family\u2019s high-profile history.<\/p>\n

Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers Christchurch and Canterbury <\/a>issues as well as national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for more than 20 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, and homicides. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In June 2024, Justice Cameron Mander handed down a finite sentence of 18 years. He did not impose…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[18516,6375,35435,9218,6636,2511,13619,139791,2245,36355,1888,35698,5511,14235,2083,3234,4275,61390,111,43,139,69,47839,61,27561,52,1533],"class_list":["post-489265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-18516","tag-appeal","tag-becomes","tag-before","tag-challenge","tag-child","tag-convictions","tag-dickason","tag-early","tag-eligible","tag-first","tag-hearing","tag-just","tag-killer","tag-lauren","tag-months","tag-murder","tag-murderer","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-parole","tag-to","tag-triple","tag-wellington","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}