Froling Eyes Remarkable NBL Comeback After Dodging Death
Reigning NBL champion the Illawarra Hawks are eyeing an inspirational Harry Froling comeback after the big man suffered a horrific one-punch attack
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SBS Australia
32 minutes ago
- SBS Australia
'I shouldn't have lied to them': Accused mushroom cook's week on the witness stand
Mushroom cook Erin Patterson has admitted to lies, spoken of past shames and apologised while testifying at her triple murder trial. The 50-year-old has pleaded not guilty over the deaths of her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, following a July 2023 lunch. Patterson also denies the attempted murder of the only survivor of the meal, Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson. The church pastor has attended most days of the trial after giving evidence himself and this week sat quietly at the back of court watching Patterson in the witness box. She maintains the poisonings were not deliberate. The Supreme Court trial in Victoria's regional town of Morwell has run into its sixth week, with curious spectators queuing before dawn to grab a coveted seat from where they could witness the accused give evidence. Sitting behind a varnished timber stand, Patterson told the jury about having low self-esteem as an adult and wanting to do something about her weight and poor eating habits. She also admitted lying to her lunch guests about it. "I was planning to have gastric bypass surgery, and so I remember thinking, 'I didn't want to tell anybody what I was going to have done'," she told the court. "I thought perhaps letting them believe I had some serious issue that needed treatment might mean they'd be able to help me with the logistics around the kids." She told the jury she had also invited her estranged husband Simon Patterson for lunch that day to talk about "some health stuff" but he did not attend. Patterson said she mentioned at the table an issue she had "a year or two earlier where I thought I had ovarian cancer and had various scans about and related to that". "I'm not proud of this but I led them to believe that I might be needing some treatment in regards to that in the next few weeks or months." "Did you lie to them?" Defence barrister Colin Mandy SC asked. "I did lie to them," she replied. Asked why, Patterson said: "I was really embarrassed. I was ashamed of the fact that I didn't have control over my body or what I ate ... I didn't want to tell anybody but I shouldn't have lied to them." Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC asked about that conversation but Patterson denied she told her lunch guests she had been diagnosed with cancer and needed advice on how to break this news to her children. "I suggest you never thought you'd have to account for this lie about having cancer because you thought the lunch guests would die," Rogers said. "That's not true," Patterson replied. "What I was trying to communicate was … that I was undergoing investigations around ovarian cancer and might need treatment in that regard in the future." Mandy cited the accused's police interview on 5 August 2023, where she told them she had never dehydrated food and denied owning a dehydrator. "Were those lies?" Mandy asked. "Yes," Patterson replied. Asked why she lied to detectives about the dehydrator, Patterson said: "I had disposed of it a few days earlier in the context of thinking that maybe mushrooms that I'd foraged for the meal I prepared was responsible for making people sick." After police told her Gail and Heather had died during a search of her home before the interview, Patterson said she had a "stupid knee-jerk reaction to just dig deeper and keep lying". "I was just scared but I shouldn't have done it," Patterson said. He asked Patterson if her answer to police that she had "never" foraged for mushrooms was also a lie. "Yes, they were both lies," she replied. Months before the fatal lunch, Patterson revealed she had apologised for sending Facebook messages to her online friends about her relatives after a dispute between her and Simon about child support and schooling. She said she did not mean the messages, "this family, I swear to f***ing god" and "I'm sick of this shit, I want nothing to do with them", insisting it was her "venting" frustration. "It wasn't Don and Gail's fault. It wasn't the family's fault. It wasn't even entirely Simon's fault. I played a part in the issue too," she told the court. After returning from a family holiday to New Zealand, Patterson said she apologised to her in-laws. "What were you apologising for?" Mandy asked. "For trying to involve them in something that they didn't need to be worried about," she said. "I wasn't asking them to take sides but, in effect, I was. "I wanted them to agree with me that I was right and Simon was wrong, and that wasn't fair." She denied Rogers assertion she was angry with them for taking Simon's side in the dispute or that those comments were her true feelings towards her in-laws.
SBS Australia
32 minutes ago
- SBS Australia
En Garde! Meet the Filipinas making their mark in fencing
Lyra Stewart, a Filipino-Kiwi based in Melbourne, has been fencing for 20 years. Now 50 years old, she is also the Participation Manager at Fencing Victoria (FV), working to grow the sport in multicultural communities across the state. Fifteen-year-old Year 10 student Eunice Tag-at discovered fencing three years ago when her father introduced it as a post-COVID activity. Since then, she has competed in state-level tournaments and developed a deep passion for the sport. A common misconception is that fencing is only for the elite, but Lyra explains it is more accessible than most people think. She adds that it is never too early or too late to start, with fencers ranging in age from 6 to 75 years old. Fencing Victoria hopes to connect with more Filipinos in Victoria through events like the annual Pride Cup, which celebrates inclusivity and diversity in sport. Photo 1: In 2023, Lyra Stewart competed in Madrid in 2023. She won bronze in veterans women's foil (fencer on the right). Photos 2: Eunice (left) and Lyra (right) fencing at their club. SBS Filipino 07/06/2025 32:44 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino
SBS Australia
32 minutes ago
- SBS Australia
Further legal action looms over Hillcrest tragedy
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts . TRANSCRIPT Further legal action looms after the Hillcrest jumping castle tragedy A UK art dealer jailed for selling art to a Hezbollah financier Novak Djokovic still undecided on next year's French Open after his semi-final defeat Further legal action is looming after the operator of a jumping castle that became airborne and killed six children was found not guilty of criminal breaches. Maurice Blackburn lawyer Dimi Ioannou has said outside of the Devonport Magistrates Court the firm is helping the families of the children prepare for a public inquest, which had been put on hold when Taz-Zorb owner Rosemary Gamble was first charged. She also says that work on a class action filed in December against the state and castle operator Taz-Zorb will continue. "We have parents, witnesses, children, who have joined the class action... It's too early to say at this stage but we will be seeking pain and suffering [[compensation]] for the families and the children that suffered an injury on the day." Two bodies have been found in Tasmania in the search for a pair of missing tourists. Leannedra Kang and Takahiro Toya had been scheduled to fly from Launceston home to Brisbane on Wednesday, but had not boarded their flight or returned their rental vehicle. Inspector Luke Manhood says it appears Ms Kang and Mr Toya had been travelling over a bridge when their car left the roadway and ended up in the water off Tebrakunna Road, known as a mostly unsealed route through mountainous country. A British TV art expert has been sentenced to five years in prison for selling works to a suspected Hezbollah financier. The sentencing follows 53 year old Oghenochuko Ojiri's guilty plea to eight charges under the UK's Terrorism Act over art sales to Nazem Ahmad, who has been sanctioned by the UK and US over his ties to the militant Hezbollah group. Ojiri was one of the experts to appear on the BBC program Bargain Hunt. A man wrongly deported to El Salvador from the United States has finally been brought home. But Kilmar Abrego Garcia remains in the custody of US authorities, after being charged with transporting illegal immigrants. His family have maintained he has done nothing wrong and is not a gang member as the US government has insisted. orney-General Pam Bondi alleges that is not true. "The grand jury found that over the past nine years Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring. They found this was his full time job, not a contractor." A US tech giant has rejected proposed changes to Australia's digital competition rules, saying some could put consumers and app developers at risk. Changes were proposed to the rules governing digital platforms following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Digital Platforms inquiry. But Apple argues that Australians could lose more money to fraudsters, miss out on cutting-edge tech features, and fail to see lower prices under the proposed reforms. The company says the changes would allow users to side-load third-party apps onto their devices, force the company to accept third-party payments without commissions, and demand interoperability with other platforms. Ten egg-like joeys have been confirmed as the newest members of mainland Australia's largest fleet of Tasmanian devils. The joeys have been found in the first pouch check of the 2025 breeding season at Aussie Ark's Barrington Tops sanctuary in northern New South Wales. The Tasmanian devils' mating season occurs over three cycles from February to June, with birth coming after 21 days' gestation. Operation manager Dean Reid says up to four more devils are expected to conceive in June in the final breeding window of the year. "So bubby Yeager here doesn't have any joeys. But her pouch is nice and red so it means she's going into her third oestrus. So we'll check her in a few months." To sport, Novak Djokovic says he is yet to decide if his French Open semi-final defeat against world number one Jannik Sinner is his final appearance at Roland Garros. The 24-time Grand Slam winner and three-time French Open champion is planning to play at Wimbledon later this month as well as the U.S. Open starting in August. But he has declined to commit to any tournaments beyond them at this stage. "This could have been the last match ever I played here. So - I don't know. That's why I was a bit more emotional in the end. But if this was the farewell match at the Roland Garros for me in my career, it was a wonderful one in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd."
