Lauren Dickason trial
Defence begins closing address
In her closing address to the jury, Dickason’s lawyer Kerryn Beaton KC told the jury that her client admitted to killing her three children using cable ties and then by suffocation.
She tucked them into bed one last time and told them she loved them, Beaton said.
“You’ve all been exposed to some harrowing details. It’s horrific. It’s shocking.
“But, mothers don’t kill their children the way Lauren did just because they’re angry, resentful or stressed”.
Beaton said we’ve all been angry, resentful, or stressed, but have not gone on to kill our children. This was not anger or resentment, but someone suffering from a severe mental illness, she said.
Dickason decided she had to kill “her beautiful girls, who she loved so much” and then herself.
Beaton told the jury, “none of us envy you” but stressed that they needed to put any sense of prejudice to one side. They may think that Dickason’s actions were so horrible that she should be found guilty of murder, but this was not the right approach, Beaton said.
She tucked them into bed one last time and told them she loved them, Beaton said.
“You’ve all been exposed to some harrowing details. It’s horrific. It’s shocking.
“But, mothers don’t kill their children the way Lauren did just because they’re angry, resentful or stressed”.
Beaton said we’ve all been angry, resentful, or stressed, but have not gone on to kill our children. This was not anger or resentment, but someone suffering from a severe mental illness, she said.
Dickason decided she had to kill “her beautiful girls, who she loved so much” and then herself.
Beaton told the jury, “none of us envy you” but stressed that they needed to put any sense of prejudice to one side. They may think that Dickason’s actions were so horrible that she should be found guilty of murder, but this was not the right approach, Beaton said.