BREAKING NEWS Horror as 'naked' body is found floating near expensive Sydney suburb
A man's body has been found floating near the Grays Boat ramp in Sydney 's south.
A kayaker spotted the body on Monday morning just before 9am, floating in the water near the boat ramp.
The kayaker spotted injuries on the body, including bruising to the knuckles and cuts to the hands and fingers, and immediately alerted police, who recovered the body from the water.
Police are not treating the death as suspicious.
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The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Erin Patterson says she didn't deliberately source death caps and serve to guests as murder trial evidence concludes
Erin Patterson has finished giving evidence in her triple murder trial, bringing an end to eight days of testimony in the Victorian supreme court. Patterson answered 'disagree' to three final questions from prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC on Thursday morning: that she deliberately sourced death caps in 2023, included them in beef wellingtons served to her lunch guests, and intended to kill them when she did so. After Patterson disagreed with all three suggestions, Rogers said 'I have no further questions'. Her evidence concluded soon after when Patterson was re-examined by her lawyer Colin Mandy SC. Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to poisoning four lunch guests with beef wellington served at her house in Leongatha, Victoria, on 29 July 2023. She has pleaded not guilty to murdering her estranged husband Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, and attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson, Simon's uncle and Heather's husband. Earlier on Thursday, Patterson said her children were mistaken when they told police in separate interviews that she also ate leftovers of beef wellington the night after the lunch. Rogers took Patterson to transcripts of her children's interviews with police where they were asked about what she ate for dinner on 30 July. Patterson had told the court the children ate leftovers of the beef wellington, with the mushrooms and pastry scraped off, and she had a bowl of cereal, but did not eat much of it. Her children told police she also served herself leftovers of the lunch. 'Do you say [your daughter] is wrong about what you prepared yourself for dinner on the Sunday night?' 'She is,' Patterson responded. Later, Rogers asked: 'do you say that [your son] is incorrect about what you prepared for dinner on the Sunday night?' 'Yes, he is,' Patterson answered. Rogers suggested to Patterson that evidence she gave earlier this week about having used her dehydrator to increase the crispness of dried mushrooms she bought from an Asian grocer was 'another lie that you've made up on the spot', given she had not told health authorities about this in the weeks after the lunch, nor mentioned it during the first part of her evidence when questioned by Mandy. 'I suggest that you're hedging your bets, trying to make it seem like there are multiple possible sources for the death cap mushrooms,' Rogers said. 'Incorrect,' Patterson responded. Patterson also denied that she used a Samsung phone, referred to as phone A during the proceedings, to look up posts about the location of death cap mushrooms on the site iNaturalist. Patterson denies ever seeing the posts, which related to sightings of the mushrooms in the towns of Outtrim and Loch in May and April, 2023. It is the prosecution case that Patterson saw the posts, and used this information to travel to the towns and source the mushrooms used in the beef wellingtons. The phone, which Patterson agreed was the device she used predominantly in the months before the lunch, has never been recovered by police. 'I suggest it's because you deliberately concealed this phone from police,' Rogers said. 'Disagree,' Patterson answered. During re-examination by Mandy, Patterson agreed she had been mistaken in thinking a clinic that she had booked an appointment for in September 2023 offer gastric bypass surgery, as she had previously told the jury. But it had offered liposuction at the time she made the appointment, the court heard. Patterson told the court earlier in her evidence that she had been embarrassed about planned weight loss surgery, and what she described as a pre-assessment for a planned gastric bypass, at the time of the lunch. Mandy also asked Patterson why she said she disagreed with a suggestion that she was 'very familiar' with the Melbourne suburb Glen Waverley, as she had said under questioning from Rogers earlier this week about the possible source for the dried mushrooms bought from an Asian grocer. Patterson said her answer was based on the fact her familiarity with the suburb came from working there in the early 2000s, and from occasionally shopping there, but 'I may have been being pedantic, I do do that'. She also said that she accepted it was most likely her that accessed the iNaturalist website, as shown in data extractions taken from devices seized from her house, after earlier saying in her evidence it was possible either of her children had visited the site. The extract showed a short visit to an iNaturalist page listing the locations of all death cap mushroom sightings globally. Patterson became emotional when answering questions about her son and daughter, and about flying and ballet lessons they had proximate to the lunch. Soon after answering, she was excused, and Justice Christopher Beale told the jury the evidence in the case had concluded. Legal discussions were expected to occur for the remainder of Thursday, and possibly into Friday. The trial continues.
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
NSW government failing to measure or reduce gambling harm, damning audit finds
The New South Wales government has not set targets to reduce the harm caused by about 90,000 poker machines in the state and does not know if it is protecting people, according to a damning audit. The state's auditor general has also said the NSW government is doing 'relatively little' to assess whether pubs and clubs are identifying and preventing gambling harm at their venues. The report assesses government conduct from 2019 to mid-2024 across Labor and Coalition governments, but is likely to add to political pressure on the Minns government. Last week, a leading charity accused it of not doing enough to prevent serious harm caused by pokies. The Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport's 'strategy for regulating gaming machines is not based on a clear understanding of current levels of gambling harm and it does not set any targets for reducing harm associated with gaming machines,' the audit report said. 'The department does not have benchmarks, targets or other performance measures in place to assess outcomes against key measures of harm minimisation. 'There have been no evaluations of its compliance programs to measure their impact on harm minimisation outcomes. As a result, the department does not know whether its regulatory strategy is effective in minimising gambling harm.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The audit report said gambling harm appears to have increased despite the government's efforts. 'Calls to the GambleAware helpline increased by 8.5% in 2023–24 and gaming machine losses have increased in each of the last three years,' the report said. 'The results of the 2024 NSW Gambling Survey did not indicate a reduction in the level of gambling harm in NSW.' The report confirmed revenue from gambling taxes would increase from $2.47bn this financial year to $2.91bn in 2027-28. 'The forecast increase in gaming machine profits is due to expected increases in the use of gaming machines,' the report said. The chair of the state's independent liquor and gaming authority, Caroline Lamb, supported all recommendations from the audit. 'We propose to take a more structured approach to stakeholder engagement and acknowledge our responsibility, in conjunction with hospitality and racing, to ensure licensees meet their statutory obligations,' Lamb said. The state's gaming minister, David Harris, said the government 'takes harm minimisation seriously and has implemented a number of initiatives'. These initiatives include reducing the cash limit on new machines from $5,000 to $500, banning external signage at venues, putting more responsible gaming officers in venues and investing $100m in a gambling harm minimisation fund. But Wesley Mission's chief executive, Stu Cameron, believes these 'limited reforms' are 'clearly not having an impact'. 'While we didn't need an audit to know the system is broken, as frontline services have been saying this for years, now it is in black and white: the NSW government has done next to nothing to reduce gambling harm while clubs and hotels pocket billions.' In November last year, an independent panel advising the government on gambling reform wrote a 'roadmap' for overhauling the state's regulation of poker machines and limiting harm. The Minns government is yet to formally respond to the report's recommendations, which were contested by some panel members. Labor had promised to force poker machines to be made cashless by 2028, but a pilot of a gaming scheme attracted only 32 participants. The project was subsequently criticised by the Australian Hotels Association – whose members operate poker machines – which questioned the evidence base for further action. 'The research findings of the cashless gaming trial are embarrassing and not credible,' an AHA spokesperson said after preliminary results of the trial were released. ClubsNSW said the cashless gaming trial had a 'significantly low uptake' and said calls for it to become mandatory were based on 'no economic modelling' about its potential impacts. 'With only 14 genuine and active users participating in the trial, such a low adoption should necessitate a cautious, measured, voluntary approach to implementation of account-based gaming, rather than a short timeframe for a statewide, mandatory rollout,' ClubsNSW said in December last year. The shadow minister for gaming, Kevin Anderson, said 'gambling losses continue to skyrocket in NSW while the independent panel's report gathers dust on the desks of the premier and minister'. 'The Minns government must urgently respond to the recommendations in that report to give the community and the industry certainty of the path forward.' In Australia, Gambling Help online is available on 1800 858 858. The National Debt helpline is at 1800 007 007.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Erin Patterson: Australian accused in mushroom murders finishes giving evidence
SYDNEY, June 12 (Reuters) - An Australian woman accused of murder denied on Thursday she deliberately included poisonous mushrooms in a lunch she served to three elderly relatives of her estranged husband, as the prosecution wrapped up five days of cross-examination. Erin Patterson is charged with the murders of her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather's husband, in July 2023. The prosecution accuses her of foraging for the death caps, before drying them and knowingly serving them in individual portions of Beef Wellington at her home in Leongatha, a town of about 6,000 people some 135 km (84 miles) from Melbourne. Patterson denies the charges, which carry a life sentence, with her defence calling the deaths a "terrible accident". On Thursday, prosecution barrister Nanette Rogers ended her cross-examination by accusing Patterson of deliberately sourcing the mushrooms for the lunch. "I suggest you deliberately included them in the Beef Wellington you served (the guests)... you did so intending to kill them." "Disagree," the accused replied. The lengthy cross-examination followed three days of questioning from the 50-year-old's own barrister, Colin Mandy. Erin Patterson was the only witness called by her defence, and her decision to take the stand reignited interest in the trial, now in its seventh week. Media have descended on the town of Morwell where the trial is being held, about two hours east of Melbourne. State broadcaster ABC's daily podcast on the trial is currently Australia's most popular, while many domestic newspapers have run live blogs. The jury is next expected to hear closing arguments from the prosecution and defence, before presiding judge Justice Christopher Beale gives his instructions to the jury. The trial is expected to conclude later this month.
