Lauren Dickason. Photo: Pool / NZME / George Heard
Warning: This story contains distressing content.
A forensic psychiatrist, who spent 20 hours assessing Lauren Dickason, believes her behaviour showed a delusional psyche in the days leading up to her killing her children.
The final witness in the murder trial faced intensive scrutiny by the prosecution during cross-examination in the Christchurch High Court on Thursday.
Dickason, 42, does not deny killing her daughters Karla, Maya and Liane on 16 September 2021, but has pleaded not guilty to their murders, on the grounds of insanity and infanticide.
Both the Crown and the defence are now set to offer their final arguments as the trial end draws nearer.
Psychologist Ghazi Metoui first interviewed Dickason about three months after she killed her children.
It was then another 13 months before they met again, the court heard.
Prosecutor Andrew McRae suggested to Metoui the duration it took to meet with the defendant marred his ability to gather an understanding of the killings and potential motives.
"There is an advantage in seeing her close in time, isn't there, to the index offence, in order to crystallise that," McRae said.
Metoui said in response that this was not necessarily correct.
"We can't all interview Ms Dickason at once. As a clinician, yes there's a legal process, but you have a duty of care as well.
"That will allow you to get a better assessment. Think about what Ms Dickason had done, we all know what she did.
"It's okay to let the dust settle."
But the Crown later proposed there were some things that Dickason was not telling the clinician, suggesting his reliance on the woman's account was not always dependable.
"You're asking her about these things and she's not telling you in the meetings that you're having with her," McRae said.
Metoui did not believe a perfect recollection of events was "realistic".
"That is not the real world in how people function," he quipped.
Metoui stands by the view that Dickason's motives for killing her children were altruistic.
The prosecution said Dickason's text messages in the months prior suggested differently.
"She's literally saying she wants to 'divorce her children', she's literally saying she wants to 'give them back and start over ... I would've decided otherwise' to her best friend that she speaks of very frankly to," McRae said.
"And the next night, the children die."
The clinician felt the messages highlighted a delusional and nihilistic mindset.
"Her world was crumbling, that was the lens that she was seeing life from," Metoui replied.
"It's the meaning she took from these things."
The jury was told during the trial about how the mother chose Karla first when she killed the girls because of her behaviour.
Metoui admitted he was unsure as to the significance of this.
"I know that's the Crown position and fair enough to the Crown.
"My position on that is, first of all, I don't know why she chose Karla first, but the second thing is I'm not sure if that's the important thing in all of that.
"She had made the decision that all three children were going to die, and so was she."
He also argued Dickason was shown to be a "protective" mother in moments on the day the girls died.
McRae disputed this.
"Is that protective or just normal mothering activities?"
Metoui then pointed to the events of the night being abnormal.
"[They] were in response to many things, in response to her being and having thoughts and beliefs of somebody who is acutely unwell, severely unwell, needed urgent hospital care."
Metoui believes Dickason has a legitimate case of insanity and infanticide.
His testimony concluded this afternoon with final arguments expected on Friday.
The twelve jurors will then be tasked with deliberating on a verdict next week.