Dickason was found guilty of murdering her three young children at their Timaru home in 2021. She now faces a life sentence for the murder of each child. Video / NZ Herald
They spent two weeks in managed isolation and then travelled to Timaru where Dickason’s husband Graham had taken a job as an orthopedic surgeon.
Dickason admitted killing the girls but denied charges of murder. She had mounted a defence of insanity or infanticide on the basis she was so mentally unwell at the time, she could not be held fully responsible for her actions.
Detailed reports from psychiatric experts will be presented to the court before that date, and the Crown will seek Victim Impact Statements from any of the little girls’ family who wish to be heard in court.
The consequence in New Zealand for a murder conviction is life in prison - unless that sentence is deemed to be “manifestly unjust”.
A life sentence will also likely carry a minimum non-parole period, which Justice Mander will determine.
He will also decide where Dickason commences her sentence - in prison or at the forensic psychiatric facility where she has been held since shortly after the murders.
Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz
