Timaru residents pay respects to killed sisters - 'Part of our community'

September 18, 2021

Flowers and soft toys have been placed outside the home where Maya, Karla and Liane died on Thursday night.

A steady stream of Timaru residents have left flowers and soft toys outside the home where three girls were killed on Thursday evening.

Two-year-old Maya and Karla, and their six-year-old sister Liane died at their Queen St home. Their mother Lauren Anne Dickason appeared in the Timaru District Court on Saturday, charged with their murders.

They, along with father Graham, had recently left managed isolation after moving to NZ from South Africa.

Despite being new arrivals, people in Timaru were keen to point out the girls were part of their community.

"These children are part of our community, I want them to know, their family to know, they are cared about. This is a tragedy what's happened here," one woman told 1News. "It's breaking all of our hearts. I just want to come and pay my respects." 

The accused didn't enter a plea during her appearance and was remanded for a mental health assessment. 

"As a mother and as a grandmother, I really feel, it's so sad," another woman said outside the home, which was used by Timaru Hospital staff needing accommodation.

Graham Dickason, an orthopaedic surgeon, had recently started working for the South Canterbury District Health Board. 

Overseas relatives of the family were being considered for emergency MIQ spots, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said.

"We are deeply sympathetic to the family here and overseas at this time," associate deputy secretary of managed isolation and quarantine Andrew Milne said.

“We are working with the family through the police liaison officers to facilitate any urgent travel to New Zealand to provide support for family members in Timaru.’’ 

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