Jailing a mentally ill person is not rehabilitation, say experts after Lauren Dickason verdict

Though the case of Pretoria expat Lauren Dickason, who murdered her three children in their beds, is unique and complicated, cases like hers should be dealt with from a mental health perspective to foster relevant rehabilitation, say experts.

Dickason admitted to killing daughters Liané, 6, and twins Maya and Karla, 2, in September 2021, three weeks after emigrating to New Zealand. During the trial she had hoped to persuade the court in Christchurch that she was not guilty of murder due to insanity and infanticide.

Feige Swimmer, co-founder of Mom Squad, a community of women helping each other through postnatal depression (PND), said this was a particularly unique case with many layers.

“Looking at the timeline and history this is not PPD but definitely a full-on mental breakdown. Some women don’t have access to mental health care and their situation often escalates when it could have been managed early.

“In general, I don’t think an offender like this should be put into a correctional service for everyone but rather one that has an element of psychological rehabilitation, it needs to have a mental health aspect,” said Swimmer.

It’s tricky dealing with such cases because some people may believe that she doesn’t deserve to be accommodated in anyway, but mental health is complicated

—  Feige Swimmer, co-founder of
Mom Squad

The court heard evidence that Dickason has had mental health issues since her teenage years. After a gruelling fertility journey, including at least 17 rounds of IVF, the loss of a baby early in a pregnancy and her struggles with motherhood, the defence argued she had thought it would be kindest to take the children “to heaven” with her when she committed suicide.

Swimmer added that though Dickason is a murderer, her mental disease should be considered.

“Punishing her like everyone else is unfair because they were probably not aware of what they were doing. But they should definitely be kept away from society.

“It’s tricky dealing with such cases because some people may believe that she doesn’t deserve to be accommodated in any way, but mental health is complicated,” said Swimmer.

Psychologist Nkululeko Mhlongo said imprisoning someone with severe mental health problems is not the right form of rehabilitation.

“The justice system is generally not the right system to assist such people, it’s not equipped. At a general level there should be organisations that work closely with the system to better understand the crime and after sentencing they should be the ones to handle the case.

“Unfortunately there aren’t enough organisations like that or activism that deals with mental health related crimes. Her case has psychotic elements, something that could have been addressed before it reached the criminal system. Had all means been exhausted we might not have been here.

“Even after they are out, there should be a continuation — not just through a parole officer but a psychological approach,” Mhlongo said.

The prosecution’s case was that while she had been depressed, Dickason had known what she was doing and yet did not contemplate stopping. She struggled to adapt to motherhood and was resentful at the way the children got in the way of her relationship with her husband, Graham.