The woman accused of murdering her three young daughters in Timaru last year has again been excused from court.
Lauren Dickason was charged in September with murdering the young girls - Liane, 6, and 2-year-old twins Maya and Kayla - at their Timaru home. The family, including father Graham, had only recently moved to the south Canterbury town from South Africa.
Dickason was excused from appearing at the High Court in Christchurch on Friday and her defence counsel was there on behalf of her.
Other than her first hearing in Timaru, Dickason has been absent from all court appearances.
Dickason will remain at Hillmorton Hospital, in a medium secure psychiatric unit, until her next appearance later this month.
A trial date has been set down for March 2023.
The children were found dead by their dad Graham at about 10pm on September 16.
Dickason, 40, was taken to Timaru Hospital where she was later charged with murder. The family had recently completed managed isolation after arriving in South Africa to settle in the South Island town.
A vigil was held in Timaru in late September to honour the three sisters.
"My words are few at the moment,'' Graham Dickason said in a message read at the vigil by Reverend Alan Cummins. "On Thursday the 16th of September 2021 my life and Lauren's were turned upside down when our three precious angels were ripped away from us.
"It is a loss that I will carry with me for the rest of my life."
Close friends and family also gathered in South Africa's Pretoria to honour the three sisters.
