Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Barrister questions key piece of evidence: ‘There was NO smaller plate’

Lead defence barrister Colin Mandy SC (pictured below right with his legal team) has commenced cross-examining deadly mushroom lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson.

The pastor was asked about his relationship with Erin Patterson and about how often she would attend church.

At times it was fortnightly, he responded.

Mr Wilkinson his relationship with Patterson was ‘quite friendly’.

He said he had never been to Patterson’s Leongatha home before the fateful lunch.

Mr Mandy also pressed Mr Wilkinson on how the meal was plated up and served.

Mr Wilkinson said he sat after the food was placed at the table and agreed people were able to sit anywhere they want.

There was no direction from Erin for anyone to sit anywhere on the table, Mr Wilkinson told the jury.

Mr Mandy suggested the claim that the four plates used to serve beef Wellington to Patterson’s lunch guests were all grey, and all the same, was not correct.

Mr Mandy also suggested there was ‘no smaller plate’, but Mr Wilkinson disagreed.

The court has heard evidence during the trial that Patterson ate her lunch from a smaller, differently coloured plate than her guests.

Mr Wilkinson said he couldn’t remember how much Patterson ate.

Patient transport officer for the Royal Flying Doctor Service Cindy Hyde told the court she rushed Don and Gail Patterson to Korumburra Hospital in three minutes.

During the ambulance trip, she observed Don appeared ‘more unwell’ than Gail.

Ms Hyde said both patients had suffered diarrhea and had been vomiting for eight hours. Don vomited twice just before getting into the ambulance.

Ms Hyde also told the court the couple said they had consumed ‘beef stroganoff’ and taken anti-nausea drugs.

Registered nurse Lisa Shannon, who has worked for several years at Gippsland hospitals, and also at the Royal Hobart Hospital, treated Don and Gail in the urgent care centre after they arrived.

‘Donald was considerably sicker than Gail on arrival,’ Ms Shannon said.

She told the jury both had taken anti-nausea medication earlier that morning, which had helped Gail slightly but did nothing for Don.

‘Donald was considerably sicker and required most of my time,’ Ms Shannon said.

The experienced nurse also said she had to stay with both patients full-time due to their conditions.

She said she did multiple tests including a heart examination and an electrolyte level examination.

They were then transferred to a hospital ward for 24-hour observation.

‘It was obvious Donald was getting way worse, he continued vomiting and going to the toilet, he looked worse than when he presented,’ Ms Shannon said.

She also said medication had not improved Donald’s condition.

Ms Shannon also said she accompanied Donald and Gail every time they went to the toilet.

Medical staff consulted and decided to urgently transfer the couple to a ‘tertiary hospital’ in Melbourne which had an emergency department and more doctors.

The jury later heard Simon Patterson (below) visited his parents at Dandenong Hospital.

Lead defence barrister Colin Mandy SC probed Ian Wilkinson about the ‘medical issue’ raised by Erin Patterson during the deadly mushroom lunch.

Patterson’s barrister suggested that Mr Wilkinson had told police in September 2023 that Erin had merely said she had ‘suspected cancer’.

‘Yes, I suppose, yes,’ Mr Wilkinson responded.

‘She had a suspected cancer?’ Mr Mandy asked.

‘Yes, I think she was saying that she had cancer because she went on to talk about a diagnostic scan of some sort that showed she (had cancer),’ he said.

‘I think she was saying she had cancer.

‘I think I was probably understating things at that point (to police), I believe she was saying she had cancer.

‘It wasn’t an impression; she plainly said she had some sort of cancer.

‘This was a serious situation, a situation that made her afraid over the future of her kids.’

Mr Wilkinson said the lunch guests reassured Patterson about cancer treatments.

‘Erin was fairly clear the diagnosis was given,’ Mr Wilkinson told the jury.

He said the lunch guests also discussed Don Patterson’s brother in Botswana who had cancer at the time of the lunch.

Mr Wilkinson then concluded his evidence.

Ian Wilkinson told the court he decided to say a prayer for Erin Patterson after she announced she had cancer.

Mr Wilkinson said Erin made it sound like her cancer was ‘very serious, life-threatening’.

He said Erin also asked her lunch guests’ advice about telling her children about the shock cancer claim.

‘In that moment, I thought that was the reason we were invited to the lunch,’ Mr Wilkinson said.

Mr Wilkinson said Don Patterson spoke first.

‘He said, “It’ll be best to be honest with the kids”. It felt like it (the cancer discussion) was very short, about 10 minutes. It was a relatively short conversation,’ he told the court

Ian said that he suggested he say a prayer on behalf of Erin.

‘I made a prayer asking God’s blessing on Erin that she’ll get the treatment that she needed, that the kids will be ok, that she had wisdom in power… and then the prayer concluded as the boys arrived in the room,’ he said.

The conversation changed when Erin’s son and his friend arrived.

Mr Wilkinson returned home and met with church staffers but told the court he could not recall what they ate that night, saying he retired ‘a little later than normal’ about 10.30pm.

‘I was feeling okay,’ he said.

However, he recalled Heather got up out of bed and went to the laundry where she vomited.

‘I felt alright when Heather initially got up but it wasn’t very long after that that I also felt the need to go and vomit,’ he said.

‘It continued right through the night, we were starting to feel pretty washed out, I was emptying out.’

The couple spent the night camped outside their toilets.

Both were vomiting and had the runs.

Around dawn, Heather spoke to Don and learnt they were also struggling.

Their son Simon attended in the morning.

Mr Wilkinson said he was ‘quite unwell’ by then.

He said Simon wanted to call an ambulance and Don and Gail had already called an ambulance to hospital, but Mr Wilkinson was initially reluctant.

‘Heather and I had case of gastro for a few hours and we’ll be alright,’ he recalled.

Simon insisted and rang an ambulance but they were told if they could make their own way to hospital it would be quicker.

At Leongatha hopsital a doctor questioned them about what they ate.

Mr Wilkinson said he thought the meat was raised as a possible cause of food poisoning but mushrooms had not been mentioned at that point.

The couple were then kept at the hospital.

Another doctor had grave concerns and insisted Ian and Heather be urgently transported to Dandenong Hospital in metropolitan Melbourne.

Ian and Heather and Don and Gail were later rushed to the Austin Hospital ICU where the three died.

Mr Wilkinson survived after being in the ICU until August 21.

He then spent further time in hospital before he was discharged into a rehab ward on September 11 and eventually came home on September 21.

The jury has been shown a photograph for the first time of where the deadly meal was served, before Ian Wilkinson told the court what happened prior to the lunch.

The survivor of the fatal mushroom meal, who told the jury what he ate the day before and morning of the lunch, said Don and Gail Patterson collected him and his wife Heather at about 12pm and they arrived at Erin Patterson’s home at about 12.30pm.

On arrival, Heather realised Simon Patterson’s car wasn’t there. Mr Wilkinson said he believed Don or Gail then told them their son Simon, who is Erin Patteron’s estranged husband, was not attending.

Erin (court sketch pictured below) met her visitors and took them inside where they entered the dining area.

‘There was general conversation, and then we started conversing about the house,’ Mr Wilkinson told the jury.

The court heard one of the attendees suggested the group go outside to look at the garden, where they walked before returning to the house.

Mr Wilkinson said he saw potatoes being mashed by Erin but steadfastly maintained he never saw any other food being prepared.

‘I saw Erin plating up the food,’ he said.

Mr Wilkinson said Erin was on the kitchen side of the bench, Gail and Heather were leaning on the bench and he and Don were standing away while Erin plated the food.

He said there were offers to help Erin plate up, but the ‘offer was rejected’.

He said Erin ‘plated all of the food’.

Mr Wilkinson recalled the meal consisted of mash potato, green beans and beef Wellington.

He said he didn’t see where the beef Wellington came from, but the items were served individually.

‘It (the beef Wellington) was very much like a pastie, it was a pastry case and inside was steak and mushrooms, there have been gravy available on the table,’ he said.

‘I could see them (the plates) between Heather and Gail, there were four large grey plates, one smaller plate – a different colour, an orangy-tan color.

‘Gail picked up two of the grey plates and took them to the table, Heather picked up two of the grey plates and took them to the table, Erin picked up the odd plate and put it at her place at the table.’

Mr Wilkinson recalled where everyone sat and marked it down for the jury.

He said Don sat opposite Erin at the end of the table, and he sat at the head of the table with Heather to his left and Gail on the right next to her husband.

He held back tears as he vividly recalled that the three deceased and himself ate from the grey plates while Erin ate from the ‘orange plate’.

Mr Wilkinson told the court the group said grace before eating.

Mr Wilkinson recalled that he ate the entire meal as did his wife Heather.

Gail ate half of her beef Wellington and all of her vegetables.

Don ate his beef Wellington and the other half of Gail’s.

Heather mentioned ‘we should’ve shared’ because she thought the meal was too large.

But Mr Wilkinson couldn’t say how much of the meal Erin ate.

‘I don’t remember any comments, like “oh you didn’t eat much”,’ he said.

He said after lunch the group shared cake and a fruit platter.

‘Not much cake was consumed, not much fruit was consumed, we were all very full from the main course,’ he said.

Mr Wilkinson told the jury he thought he and his wife Heather’s relationship with Erin Patterson was ‘going to improve’ after they were invited to what became the fatal lunch.

Mr Wilkinson said Erin invited him through Heather a week or two before the fateful meal.

He said the invite was made to Heather while at church.

‘She was fairly excited, and she said “good news”, sort of thing,’ he told the court of his wife’s reaction to the offer.

‘There was no reason given for the lunch.’

Mr Wilkinson said he was ‘very happy’ to be invited.

‘It seemed to me our relationship with Erin was going to improve,’ he said.

Wilkinson initially thought only he and Heather had been invited but later learned Don Patterson, his wife Gail, and their son Simon, who is Erin’s estranged husband, were also invited.

Heather kept the lunch appointment for 12pm on July 29, 2023, noted in her diary, which was shown to the jury.

Accused killer Erin Patterson showed no emotion while pastor and sole survivor of her deadly mushroom lunch, Ian Wilkinson, struggled to hold back tears as he told the jury about when he married his deceased wife Heather in 1979.

Ms Wilkinson (pictured below with Ian) was one of three people who died after consuming a meal prepared by Patterson which contained death cap mushrooms.

Mr Wilkinson told the jury he thought Patterson seemed like an ‘ordinary person’.

‘We were more like acquaintances, we didn’t see a lot of each other,’ Mr Wilkinson said.

Mr Wilkinson said there were periods when Patterson did not come to church very often, but other times she attended for ‘much more frequent periods’.

‘We spoke casually, (as) family, “how are you going?” That sort of conversation,’ he said.

‘We didn’t consider the relation was close, (she) just seemed like a normal person. When we met things were friendly, we never had arguments or disputes, she just seemed like an ordinary person.’

Mr Wilkinson also said he had only had a meal with Patterson a few times mainly at family and Christmas events.

Erin Patterson has appeared in front of the jury wearing what appears to be the same pink and white stripped shirt she wore on the first day of the murder trial.

The owner of Leongatha business Hartley Wells Betta Home Living, Darren Fox, was the first witness to give evidence.

Mr Fox said a staff member told him in November 2023 that she believed she sold a dehydrator to Patterson (pictured below).

‘We investigated to see that that was the case,’ Mr Fox said.

Mr Fox said he conducted a search of sale records and retrieved a tax invoice which showed Patterson purchased a Sunbeam Food Lab dehydrator for $229 at 12.17pm on April 28, 2023.

Mr Fox told the jury he believed the phone number linked to the invoice was Patterson’s and the dehydrator was taken at the time of purchase.

The lone survivor of Erin Patterson’s deadly mushroom-laden beef Wellington lunch will for the first time tell the jury his perspective of the now infamous meal.

Pastor Ian Wilkinson spent months in hospital after eating the meal which killed his wife, Heather, and Erin’s in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson.

Mr Wilkinson (pictured below entering court) almost died but ultimately survived the ordeal and is now ready to tell his side of the story to the jury.