TLDR
Victoria's Court of Appeal has dismissed Erin Patterson's appeal against her convictions for murdering three relatives with a death cap mushroom lunch, and upheld the prosecution's appeal against her sentence. The court set aside her 33-year non-parole period, so she will serve life in prison with no prospect of parole.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Erin Patterson will spend the rest of her life in prison after Victoria's Court of Appeal dismissed her challenge to her murder convictions on Friday and removed any prospect of parole.[1]
Patterson was found guilty last year of murdering her former parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, and of attempting to murder Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson, by serving them beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms at her home in Leongatha in 2023. Justice Christopher Beale sentenced her to life in prison with a non-parole period of 33 years, which could have seen her freed in 2056, aged 82.[1]
The appeal fails
Justices Stephen McLeish, Lesley Taylor and Peter Kidd granted Patterson leave to appeal on two of her seven grounds but dismissed the appeal.[1] Her lawyers had argued the verdicts were compromised by a "catastrophic" arrangement that housed jurors in the same accommodation as the lead homicide detective and some prosecutors, although her barrister, Richard Edney, conceded there was no evidence police or prosecutors had communicated directly with jurors.[1] The court found there was no possibility the jury would not have reached the correct decision, and ruled that disputed mobile phone data was admissible.[1]
No parole
The court then upheld the Director of Public Prosecutions' appeal that the sentence was "manifestly inadequate". Prosecutors had argued Justice Beale erred in allowing for parole because of Patterson's harsh prison conditions, which her lawyers described as solitary confinement for 22 to 24 hours a day.[1] Justice McLeish said Patterson's conduct was characterised by "an elaborate series of deceptions", including a false cancer claim, the destruction of evidence and a "cruel breach of trust" of her relatives, and deserved to be "denounced in the strongest terms". He said it was inappropriate for parole to be an option.[1]
Patterson watched the decision by video link from the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne's west, where she is held. Her only remaining avenue is an appeal to the High Court, which legal experts say would face an extremely high bar.[1]
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