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EXCLUSIVE The Trial of Erin Patterson: Australian lawyer joins new Mail podcast to explain 'unusual' dismissal of rogue juror

EXCLUSIVE The Trial of Erin Patterson: Australian lawyer joins new Mail podcast to explain 'unusual' dismissal of rogue juror

Daily Mail​16-05-2025

On the latest installment of the 'The Trial of Erin Patterson ' podcast, court reporter Wayne Flower and award-winning crime correspondent Caroline Cheetham were joined by lawyer Paul Svilans to discuss the 'unusual' dismissal of a juror from the court.
Australian mother-of-three Erin Patterson stands accused of murdering three relatives with a poisonous mushroom-laced beef Wellington meal. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The juror, known only as juror 84, was discharged from the case after Justice Christopher Beale said he received credible evidence the person was discussing the facts of the trial with family and friends.
Australian law requires jurors to shield themselves from outside influence throughout the trial to ensure their decision-making remains unprejudiced.
WATCH: The Trial of Erin Patterson podcast
Lawyer Paul Svilans joined 'The Trial' podcast to discuss the 'unusual' dismissal of a juror from the court. Listen here
In practice, this means avoiding media coverage of the case and refraining from discussing trial details outside the courtroom.
Lawyer Paul Svilans, from Australian firm Mark O'Brien Legal, joined 'The Trial' podcast to explain the legal basis behind the juror's removal and why it's 'unusual' for somebody to leave a trial in this manner.
'I think it's fair to say that it's certainly unusual', Mr Svilans began.
'It's not necessarily significant - but it's unusual because of the reasons given by the judge as to why the discharge was going to take place.
'The whole point about having the additional or spare jurors was to take into account circumstances that might necessitate a discharge, sickness, those kinds of things.
'It's unusual because of the reasons his Honor gave as to why the discharge would take place. Whether it's significant or not, who knows?'
Mr Svilans then explained why it's so important for jurors not to discuss details of an ongoing trial with friends and family.
'The jurors are told at the commencement of the trial that they are only allowed to consider the evidence that is laid before them in court', he said.
'It is so important that Ms Patterson has a fair trial and the only way that she can have a fair trial is if the juror makes his or her decision based only on the evidence and nothing else.
'The danger is always, if jurors are allowed to discuss evidence with people outside the jury, persons might seek to influence their decision.
'That could lead to an unfair verdict for the accused, so it is sacrosanct that jurors do not discuss the evidence with anyone else.
'They must make their decision based only on what they see and hear in court.'
The lawyer noted an important distinction made by Judge Beale as he dismissed the anonymous juror.
'The judge made no finding either way about the juror', Mr Svilans emphasised.
'All he said was that there was credible information… there's no positive finding that they were discussing the case with friends or family. He just couldn't dismiss the possibility.'
The trial continues. Erin Patterson has denied the charges against her.
Listen to the full interview with lawyer Paul Svilans on the latest episode of 'The Trial of Erin Patterson', available now, wherever you get your podcasts.

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In Queensland the warnings about exposed bars were not isolated to Arthur Gorrie. A 2004 hanging death at Borallon correctional centre prompted a coroner to tell the state government to 'immediately cover with mesh any bars accessible to prisoners in cells'. Five years after that warning, another Borallon inmate hanged himself from exposed bars above his cell door. A hanging death at Townsville prison in 2007 prompted a warning that the Queensland government 'immediately' act on hanging points 'including bars' by replacing them with an alternative security barrier such as mesh. Two more hangings took place from exposed bars at Townsville in 2015 and 2019, roughly a decade after that warning. At Sydney's Long Bay correctional complex, there were three hangings from window bars in the metropolitan special programs centre, despite a warning in 2007 that the 'obvious' hanging points should be removed. 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But Barnes says identifying suicide risk in a cohort of inmates is incredibly difficult, largely because the entire prison population is at elevated risk. That, he says, makes the removal of the hanging points all the more essential. 'It's very frustrating because you see so much money being spent building prisons and the like, and even new prisons that were being built didn't always eliminate hanging points,' he says. 'When you know that it's such an effective measure to take, it's really mind-boggling that they wouldn't do that. 'For coroners and people involved in suicide prevention, it's extremely frustrating.' As well as the failure to address ligature points, most cases reveal glaring deficiencies in mental healthcare and conditions in Australian prisons as well as a systemic lack of support and services for people in and out of custody. Mindy Sotiri, executive director of the Justice Reform initiative, has been campaigning for prison reform for more than 25 years. 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Guardian Australia approached every state and territory government in the country to ask why known hanging points weren't removed and what was being done to make cells safe. Every government said they were taking the issue of cell safety seriously and had invested significant funds in refurbishing old cells. Most also pointed to their attempts to improve the identification of at-risk inmates and provide them with treatment, supervision and monitoring. You can read the full responses from state departments here. Darren Muir knows first-hand what it's like to be in Arthur Gorrie. He spent two weeks there, locked in the same cells, with the same exposed bars, that his brother used eight years later to take his own life. The place nearly sent him crazy, he says. 'I'll give you one word: it's a fucking zoo, mate,' he said. 'That's how primitive that place was.' Darren says he believes his brother would not have accepted mental health treatment and probably would have found a way to take his life, even if the bars had been removed. But what he can't abide is the state government's failure to act on repeated warnings to remove the obvious hanging points, including after his brother's death. 'They're more or less handing them the rope,' he says. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at

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