Murder Accused SA Doctor Won’t Appear in Court, Will Undergo 18 Month Evaluation

• Lauren Dickason will undergo 18-months of mental evaluation before her March 2023 trail
• The SA doctor has been accused of murder following the deaths of her 3 young daughters
• The distressed mom is currently being supervised at Hillmorton Hospital, a psychiatric institution

Lauren Dickason will undergo 18-months of mental evaluation following the murder of her 3 daughters. The SA doctor had just moved to New Zealand with her young family when the girls were found dead by their father, Graham Dickason in their Timaru home.

While Dickason, 40, has been arrested in connection with the murders, the court has allocated over a year's worth of time to get a clear understanding of the mom's mental state at the time of the killings, News 24 reports.

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According to The South African, the trial has been scheduled for March 2023 to allow for a psychiatric report to be completed.

Dickason is currently detained at Hillmorton Hospital in Christchurch.

'Not guilty': The plea SA doctor accused of killing 3 daughters plans to submit

In related news, Briefly News previously reported that Lauren Dickason, the South African doctor from Pretoria who stands accused of taking the lives of her three young daughters plans to hand in a plea of not guilty.

Dickason killed her children shortly after the family had relocated to New Zealand and were beginning to settle into their new home in Timaru in September.

According to News24, the Dickason family had relocated to New Zealand because Graham Dickason, who is the accused mother's husband taken employment in the country as an orthopaedic doctor. Graham, unfortunately, discovered the bodies of his children.

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18 September was the date Dickason first appeared in court, just a few days after allegedly killing her children. She was then referred to a psychiatric hospital to have her mental health checked.

New Zealand publication, Stuff reported that Dickason is still in hospital and was unable to make it to her most recent video-link court appearance.

Dickason is scheduled to hand in her not guilty pleas in a written letter because she was unable to make her court appearance. Her please will be submitted to the court through her legal representation on Friday, 15 October.

Dickason's trial is set to begin in March 2023 and a review of her case will take place 17 December 2021. Dickason will be kept in custody until the trial begins or until the court decides otherwise.

Here's what South Africans had to say about the new developments of the case:

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@ZeeZee24863412 said:

"No parent in their right mind will kill her on babies. This is the devil's work."

@cheekymlungu said:

"Looks like she'll be going with the "it's really really hard being a mom" defense and it will probably work but I'll stick to NOT murdering my children because I don't have as much faith in the "it's really really hard being a dad" defense ...."

@Mark81607413 said:

"If she is to be considered a victim as well, then I wonder whose the actual perpetrator?"

@bboy_zoid said:

"So who did it then ...?"

@psycho10001 said:

"She is a murderer bottom line."

Source: Briefly News