Lauren Dickason was found guilty of three counts of murder in the Christchurch High Court on August 16, 2023.
Photo: Poole / New Zealand Herald / George Heard

Triple murder convict Lauren Dickason has been given a deportation order that will take effect once she is released from prison.

Dickason, 43, was jailed for 18 years in June after a Christchurch High Court jury found her guilty of murdering twin girls Maya and Carla, two, and their older sister Liane, 6, in Timaru in 2021.

She strangled the children in their beds three weeks after the family arrived from South Africa, but said she was so mentally unwell she could not be held criminally responsible for their deaths.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s national compliance manager Fadia Mudafar confirmed Dickason had been served with a deportation order.

“Immigration New Zealand plans to proceed with her deportation after serving her sentence. However, as with all deportations following release from prison, her situation will be assessed before the deportation takes place,” she said.

Dickason’s legal team raised defenses of insanity and infanticide, but the jury found that she killed her daughters.

She was initially sentenced to inpatient placement as a special patient due to her mental condition under the Compulsory Psychiatric Evaluation and Treatment Act.

Dickason is appealing his conviction.

Dickason will be eligible for parole in September 2027.

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