Govt agency calls for ‘urgent' action as NSW prison population swells to five-year high amid alarming Indigenous incarceration rates
A New South Wales government agency is calling for "urgent" sweeping changes to address inmate numbers as the state's prison population swells to a five-year high.
The total number of adults within correctional facilities across the state reached 13,103 in March, the highest since March 2020, a report released on Wednesday revealed.
A steep decline in prisoner numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic was followed by a relatively stable period, but inmate levels have been rising steadily over the past 18 months.
The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) quarterly report said the number of adults incarcerated in NSW has spiked by 1,055 people, or 8.8 per cent, since November 2023.
BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said while the 'overall' prison population remains below pre-pandemic levels, the number of Aboriginal inmates now 'well exceeds' levels in 2019 and 'continues to grow'.
The report said the increase is due to a surge in Aboriginal remandees, who are unconvicted prisoners awaiting court hearings.
The number of Indigenous remandees rose by 63 per cent in the five years to March 2025, with domestic violence allegations accounting for a large part of the increase in Aboriginal adults being remanded, it said.
'These figures underscore the urgent need to consider policies, interventions and practice changes to reduce Aboriginal incarceration, as current trends contradict the Closing the Gap commitment to reduce Aboriginal over-representation in the criminal justice system by at least 15% by 2031,' Ms Fitzgerald said.
The Closing the Gap commitments includes reducing the rate of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in detention facilities by 30 per cent by 2031.
BOSCAR's quarterly update said there were 4,244 Aboriginal prisoners in NSW as of March this year, who represented 32 per cent of the state's total adult inmates.
There had been an increase of 520 Aboriginal inmates, or 14 per cent, since November 2023, while the number of non-Aboriginal prisoners was up by 359 people, or 4.3 per cent, over the same period.
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The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Indigenous, climate advocates put heat on Woodside
A bid to compel the government to consider a heritage application to protect Indigenous rock art is going to court as three environmental activists declare they "successfully hoaxed" Woodside. The preliminary hearing follows Environment Minister Murray Watt's interim approval of Woodside's North West Shelf extension until 2070, a controversial gas project in Western Australia. The call has flared tensions, with environmental and Indigenous groups arguing it will slow efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on nearby ancient petroglyphs. Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper said she was thrilled the case against the newly appointed environment minister was moving forward without further delays. "It's rude to have someone waiting for such a long time," the Save our Songlines co-founder said outside the Federal Court in Sydney. The court determined Ms Cooper's case would be heard in the week of July 14. Senator Watt attached heritage and air quality conditions to the approval and those are yet to be formally agreed to by the Australian energy giant. Ms Cooper said the North West Shelf and other industrial developments at Woodside's Burrup Hub posed risks to the rock art - concerns and evidence laid out in full in a cultural heritage assessment the minister is yet to consider. The Burrup Peninsula, in WA's Pilbara region and known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains some of the world's largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs. The "section 10" heritage application was originally lodged in early 2022. "I am furious that the minister would make a decision to lock in ongoing and irreversible damage to my country before addressing my application," Ms Cooper said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the conditions attached to the pending approval of the North West Shelf extension would address concerns about the rock art. "The local Aboriginal corporation there, I've met with them in the past, they're very supportive of industry," he told ABC radio on Friday. "They want to make sure there's protection, but they support those jobs and that economic activity." In a separate case, three protesters were fined $10,000 each after targeting a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares. Disrupt Burrup Hub's Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023. "Today we were fined for attempting to create false belief — in other words, we pranked Woodside," Ms Stolarski told supporters outside Perth District Court after the verdict. "We are guilty of pulling off a highly successful hoax. "One day, perhaps Woodside and the WA government will be pulled before a court like this one (and) be charged with much more serious crimes, and their victims will be future generations and all life on earth." A bid to compel the government to consider a heritage application to protect Indigenous rock art is going to court as three environmental activists declare they "successfully hoaxed" Woodside. The preliminary hearing follows Environment Minister Murray Watt's interim approval of Woodside's North West Shelf extension until 2070, a controversial gas project in Western Australia. The call has flared tensions, with environmental and Indigenous groups arguing it will slow efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on nearby ancient petroglyphs. Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper said she was thrilled the case against the newly appointed environment minister was moving forward without further delays. "It's rude to have someone waiting for such a long time," the Save our Songlines co-founder said outside the Federal Court in Sydney. The court determined Ms Cooper's case would be heard in the week of July 14. Senator Watt attached heritage and air quality conditions to the approval and those are yet to be formally agreed to by the Australian energy giant. Ms Cooper said the North West Shelf and other industrial developments at Woodside's Burrup Hub posed risks to the rock art - concerns and evidence laid out in full in a cultural heritage assessment the minister is yet to consider. The Burrup Peninsula, in WA's Pilbara region and known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains some of the world's largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs. The "section 10" heritage application was originally lodged in early 2022. "I am furious that the minister would make a decision to lock in ongoing and irreversible damage to my country before addressing my application," Ms Cooper said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the conditions attached to the pending approval of the North West Shelf extension would address concerns about the rock art. "The local Aboriginal corporation there, I've met with them in the past, they're very supportive of industry," he told ABC radio on Friday. "They want to make sure there's protection, but they support those jobs and that economic activity." In a separate case, three protesters were fined $10,000 each after targeting a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares. Disrupt Burrup Hub's Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023. "Today we were fined for attempting to create false belief — in other words, we pranked Woodside," Ms Stolarski told supporters outside Perth District Court after the verdict. "We are guilty of pulling off a highly successful hoax. "One day, perhaps Woodside and the WA government will be pulled before a court like this one (and) be charged with much more serious crimes, and their victims will be future generations and all life on earth." A bid to compel the government to consider a heritage application to protect Indigenous rock art is going to court as three environmental activists declare they "successfully hoaxed" Woodside. The preliminary hearing follows Environment Minister Murray Watt's interim approval of Woodside's North West Shelf extension until 2070, a controversial gas project in Western Australia. The call has flared tensions, with environmental and Indigenous groups arguing it will slow efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on nearby ancient petroglyphs. Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper said she was thrilled the case against the newly appointed environment minister was moving forward without further delays. "It's rude to have someone waiting for such a long time," the Save our Songlines co-founder said outside the Federal Court in Sydney. The court determined Ms Cooper's case would be heard in the week of July 14. Senator Watt attached heritage and air quality conditions to the approval and those are yet to be formally agreed to by the Australian energy giant. Ms Cooper said the North West Shelf and other industrial developments at Woodside's Burrup Hub posed risks to the rock art - concerns and evidence laid out in full in a cultural heritage assessment the minister is yet to consider. The Burrup Peninsula, in WA's Pilbara region and known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains some of the world's largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs. The "section 10" heritage application was originally lodged in early 2022. "I am furious that the minister would make a decision to lock in ongoing and irreversible damage to my country before addressing my application," Ms Cooper said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the conditions attached to the pending approval of the North West Shelf extension would address concerns about the rock art. "The local Aboriginal corporation there, I've met with them in the past, they're very supportive of industry," he told ABC radio on Friday. "They want to make sure there's protection, but they support those jobs and that economic activity." In a separate case, three protesters were fined $10,000 each after targeting a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares. Disrupt Burrup Hub's Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023. "Today we were fined for attempting to create false belief — in other words, we pranked Woodside," Ms Stolarski told supporters outside Perth District Court after the verdict. "We are guilty of pulling off a highly successful hoax. "One day, perhaps Woodside and the WA government will be pulled before a court like this one (and) be charged with much more serious crimes, and their victims will be future generations and all life on earth." A bid to compel the government to consider a heritage application to protect Indigenous rock art is going to court as three environmental activists declare they "successfully hoaxed" Woodside. The preliminary hearing follows Environment Minister Murray Watt's interim approval of Woodside's North West Shelf extension until 2070, a controversial gas project in Western Australia. The call has flared tensions, with environmental and Indigenous groups arguing it will slow efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on nearby ancient petroglyphs. Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper said she was thrilled the case against the newly appointed environment minister was moving forward without further delays. "It's rude to have someone waiting for such a long time," the Save our Songlines co-founder said outside the Federal Court in Sydney. The court determined Ms Cooper's case would be heard in the week of July 14. Senator Watt attached heritage and air quality conditions to the approval and those are yet to be formally agreed to by the Australian energy giant. Ms Cooper said the North West Shelf and other industrial developments at Woodside's Burrup Hub posed risks to the rock art - concerns and evidence laid out in full in a cultural heritage assessment the minister is yet to consider. The Burrup Peninsula, in WA's Pilbara region and known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains some of the world's largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs. The "section 10" heritage application was originally lodged in early 2022. "I am furious that the minister would make a decision to lock in ongoing and irreversible damage to my country before addressing my application," Ms Cooper said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the conditions attached to the pending approval of the North West Shelf extension would address concerns about the rock art. "The local Aboriginal corporation there, I've met with them in the past, they're very supportive of industry," he told ABC radio on Friday. "They want to make sure there's protection, but they support those jobs and that economic activity." In a separate case, three protesters were fined $10,000 each after targeting a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares. Disrupt Burrup Hub's Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023. "Today we were fined for attempting to create false belief — in other words, we pranked Woodside," Ms Stolarski told supporters outside Perth District Court after the verdict. "We are guilty of pulling off a highly successful hoax. "One day, perhaps Woodside and the WA government will be pulled before a court like this one (and) be charged with much more serious crimes, and their victims will be future generations and all life on earth."
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
'Shame on you': united call for death-in-custody action
The sound of a passing tram is all that breaks the silence as hundreds of people gather outside parliament, standing together in unity to honour a young Aboriginal man who died in police custody. Relatives, friends and allies shut down Melbourne's Spring Street in a powerful vigil on Friday, part of a national week of action demanding justice for 24-year-old Kumanjayi White and an end to Indigenous deaths in custody. Mr White, who had a mental disability, died on May 27 shortly after being forcibly restrained by two plain-clothes police officers inside a supermarket in Alice Springs. Police allege the 24-year-old, originally from the outback community of Yuendumu, was shoplifting and had assaulted a security guard who confronted him in the confectionery aisle. Speaking at the rally on Friday, Mr White's grandfather, Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said his grandson was "killed for no good reason". "What have we done to you? We are supposed to be working together in harmony but (police) are taking away our lives," he said. "That is not good. (He) was only getting a packet of lollies. Shame on you. "He was not a criminal. He was a quiet, young man." The rally was also attended by Krautungalung Elder Uncle Robbie Thorpe, senator Lidia Thorpe and Aunty Donna Kerr, the mother of Joshua Kerr. Ms Kerr spoke of the urgent need for justice, recalling how her son, an Indigenous man, was found unconscious in his prison cell and later died in August 2022. About 300 people attended the vigil, holding signs that read "Who is the real thief?" and "Genocide in progress". Senator Thorpe vowed to support the family's call for an independent investigation into police. "We are here to call for the footage that was taken of that murder in the supermarket," she told the large crowd. "The family want to see the footage ... so they can see what really happened." NT Police on Friday confirmed officers have not been stood down. The force and NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro have strongly rejected calls for an external investigation, saying police are the right authority to carry it out, coupled with a coronial inquiry. Mr White's family expressed anger over the rejection of calls for an independent investigation, backing the Central Land Council's demand for Canberra to withhold funding from the NT government until it agrees to establish an independent body to examine police misconduct. NT Police has said its investigation would abide by strict protocols with full transparency and be independently reviewed by the coroner. "We ask the community to allow the investigation to take its course," Acting Commissioner Martin Dole said in a statement. "We are committed to a full and fair examination of the facts." Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy has said an independent death in custody probe might be warranted "in the interest of having some separation". The Yuendumu community also lost 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker in 2019 when he was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe during a bungled arrest. Mr Rolfe was found not guilty of all charges over the death in 2022. The Kumanjayi Walker coronial findings have been postponed until July 7 after Kumanjayi White's death in custody. Rallies to protest Mr White's death in custody and urge an independent inquiry were planned for Melbourne, Alice Springs and Cairns on Friday and Sydney, Brisbane, Wollongong and Adelaide on Saturday. 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 The sound of a passing tram is all that breaks the silence as hundreds of people gather outside parliament, standing together in unity to honour a young Aboriginal man who died in police custody. Relatives, friends and allies shut down Melbourne's Spring Street in a powerful vigil on Friday, part of a national week of action demanding justice for 24-year-old Kumanjayi White and an end to Indigenous deaths in custody. Mr White, who had a mental disability, died on May 27 shortly after being forcibly restrained by two plain-clothes police officers inside a supermarket in Alice Springs. Police allege the 24-year-old, originally from the outback community of Yuendumu, was shoplifting and had assaulted a security guard who confronted him in the confectionery aisle. Speaking at the rally on Friday, Mr White's grandfather, Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said his grandson was "killed for no good reason". "What have we done to you? We are supposed to be working together in harmony but (police) are taking away our lives," he said. "That is not good. (He) was only getting a packet of lollies. Shame on you. "He was not a criminal. He was a quiet, young man." The rally was also attended by Krautungalung Elder Uncle Robbie Thorpe, senator Lidia Thorpe and Aunty Donna Kerr, the mother of Joshua Kerr. Ms Kerr spoke of the urgent need for justice, recalling how her son, an Indigenous man, was found unconscious in his prison cell and later died in August 2022. About 300 people attended the vigil, holding signs that read "Who is the real thief?" and "Genocide in progress". Senator Thorpe vowed to support the family's call for an independent investigation into police. "We are here to call for the footage that was taken of that murder in the supermarket," she told the large crowd. "The family want to see the footage ... so they can see what really happened." NT Police on Friday confirmed officers have not been stood down. The force and NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro have strongly rejected calls for an external investigation, saying police are the right authority to carry it out, coupled with a coronial inquiry. Mr White's family expressed anger over the rejection of calls for an independent investigation, backing the Central Land Council's demand for Canberra to withhold funding from the NT government until it agrees to establish an independent body to examine police misconduct. NT Police has said its investigation would abide by strict protocols with full transparency and be independently reviewed by the coroner. "We ask the community to allow the investigation to take its course," Acting Commissioner Martin Dole said in a statement. "We are committed to a full and fair examination of the facts." Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy has said an independent death in custody probe might be warranted "in the interest of having some separation". The Yuendumu community also lost 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker in 2019 when he was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe during a bungled arrest. Mr Rolfe was found not guilty of all charges over the death in 2022. The Kumanjayi Walker coronial findings have been postponed until July 7 after Kumanjayi White's death in custody. Rallies to protest Mr White's death in custody and urge an independent inquiry were planned for Melbourne, Alice Springs and Cairns on Friday and Sydney, Brisbane, Wollongong and Adelaide on Saturday. 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 The sound of a passing tram is all that breaks the silence as hundreds of people gather outside parliament, standing together in unity to honour a young Aboriginal man who died in police custody. Relatives, friends and allies shut down Melbourne's Spring Street in a powerful vigil on Friday, part of a national week of action demanding justice for 24-year-old Kumanjayi White and an end to Indigenous deaths in custody. Mr White, who had a mental disability, died on May 27 shortly after being forcibly restrained by two plain-clothes police officers inside a supermarket in Alice Springs. Police allege the 24-year-old, originally from the outback community of Yuendumu, was shoplifting and had assaulted a security guard who confronted him in the confectionery aisle. Speaking at the rally on Friday, Mr White's grandfather, Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said his grandson was "killed for no good reason". "What have we done to you? We are supposed to be working together in harmony but (police) are taking away our lives," he said. "That is not good. (He) was only getting a packet of lollies. Shame on you. "He was not a criminal. He was a quiet, young man." The rally was also attended by Krautungalung Elder Uncle Robbie Thorpe, senator Lidia Thorpe and Aunty Donna Kerr, the mother of Joshua Kerr. Ms Kerr spoke of the urgent need for justice, recalling how her son, an Indigenous man, was found unconscious in his prison cell and later died in August 2022. About 300 people attended the vigil, holding signs that read "Who is the real thief?" and "Genocide in progress". Senator Thorpe vowed to support the family's call for an independent investigation into police. "We are here to call for the footage that was taken of that murder in the supermarket," she told the large crowd. "The family want to see the footage ... so they can see what really happened." NT Police on Friday confirmed officers have not been stood down. The force and NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro have strongly rejected calls for an external investigation, saying police are the right authority to carry it out, coupled with a coronial inquiry. Mr White's family expressed anger over the rejection of calls for an independent investigation, backing the Central Land Council's demand for Canberra to withhold funding from the NT government until it agrees to establish an independent body to examine police misconduct. NT Police has said its investigation would abide by strict protocols with full transparency and be independently reviewed by the coroner. "We ask the community to allow the investigation to take its course," Acting Commissioner Martin Dole said in a statement. "We are committed to a full and fair examination of the facts." Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy has said an independent death in custody probe might be warranted "in the interest of having some separation". The Yuendumu community also lost 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker in 2019 when he was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe during a bungled arrest. Mr Rolfe was found not guilty of all charges over the death in 2022. The Kumanjayi Walker coronial findings have been postponed until July 7 after Kumanjayi White's death in custody. Rallies to protest Mr White's death in custody and urge an independent inquiry were planned for Melbourne, Alice Springs and Cairns on Friday and Sydney, Brisbane, Wollongong and Adelaide on Saturday. 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 The sound of a passing tram is all that breaks the silence as hundreds of people gather outside parliament, standing together in unity to honour a young Aboriginal man who died in police custody. Relatives, friends and allies shut down Melbourne's Spring Street in a powerful vigil on Friday, part of a national week of action demanding justice for 24-year-old Kumanjayi White and an end to Indigenous deaths in custody. Mr White, who had a mental disability, died on May 27 shortly after being forcibly restrained by two plain-clothes police officers inside a supermarket in Alice Springs. Police allege the 24-year-old, originally from the outback community of Yuendumu, was shoplifting and had assaulted a security guard who confronted him in the confectionery aisle. Speaking at the rally on Friday, Mr White's grandfather, Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said his grandson was "killed for no good reason". "What have we done to you? We are supposed to be working together in harmony but (police) are taking away our lives," he said. "That is not good. (He) was only getting a packet of lollies. Shame on you. "He was not a criminal. He was a quiet, young man." The rally was also attended by Krautungalung Elder Uncle Robbie Thorpe, senator Lidia Thorpe and Aunty Donna Kerr, the mother of Joshua Kerr. Ms Kerr spoke of the urgent need for justice, recalling how her son, an Indigenous man, was found unconscious in his prison cell and later died in August 2022. About 300 people attended the vigil, holding signs that read "Who is the real thief?" and "Genocide in progress". Senator Thorpe vowed to support the family's call for an independent investigation into police. "We are here to call for the footage that was taken of that murder in the supermarket," she told the large crowd. "The family want to see the footage ... so they can see what really happened." NT Police on Friday confirmed officers have not been stood down. The force and NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro have strongly rejected calls for an external investigation, saying police are the right authority to carry it out, coupled with a coronial inquiry. Mr White's family expressed anger over the rejection of calls for an independent investigation, backing the Central Land Council's demand for Canberra to withhold funding from the NT government until it agrees to establish an independent body to examine police misconduct. NT Police has said its investigation would abide by strict protocols with full transparency and be independently reviewed by the coroner. "We ask the community to allow the investigation to take its course," Acting Commissioner Martin Dole said in a statement. "We are committed to a full and fair examination of the facts." Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy has said an independent death in custody probe might be warranted "in the interest of having some separation". The Yuendumu community also lost 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker in 2019 when he was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe during a bungled arrest. Mr Rolfe was found not guilty of all charges over the death in 2022. The Kumanjayi Walker coronial findings have been postponed until July 7 after Kumanjayi White's death in custody. Rallies to protest Mr White's death in custody and urge an independent inquiry were planned for Melbourne, Alice Springs and Cairns on Friday and Sydney, Brisbane, Wollongong and Adelaide on Saturday. 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636
The Age
3 hours ago
- The Age
Lies, damned lies: The admissions and denials of an accused killer cook
Whether Patterson had cancer and had shared this with others was discussed repeatedly. Sole lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson recalled in his evidence that it was at the lethal lunch that Patterson broke the news of her cancer, telling her guests she was anxious about telling her children. Patterson's estranged husband, Simon Patterson, told the jury that while his family was sick in hospital after the lunch, his father relayed to him that Patterson had said she was going to have chemotherapy and surgery. Don told him Patterson said she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and needed help breaking the news to her two children. But Patterson told the jury on Thursday she had never been diagnosed with any type of cancer and went on to quibble with the suggestion she'd told her guests she had been. During cross-examination, this was referred to as the accused woman's 'so-called cancer diagnosis'. Instead, Patterson suggested she had researched the symptoms online for things, including stage-four cancer, because she was worried she may be very unwell. The 50-year-old denied doing so as part of any type of ploy to convince her family she was seriously ill. '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. 'This would allow you to tell a more convincing lie about having cancer?' Patterson replied: 'I mean, theoretically that's true, but that's not what I did. I was concerned that I had ovarian cancer, I was concerned that I had something wrong with my brain.' Patterson agreed she didn't have any medical appointments relating to cancer in the lead-up to the lunch, despite telling Gail she was undergoing medical investigations. She did, however, claim to have had a pre-surgery appointment booked for a gastric bypass to lose weight. Rogers asked Patterson if she purposely carried on the fiction that she had a serious illness. Patterson agreed. The foraging In her recorded interview with police on the afternoon of August 5, 2023, Patterson said she'd never foraged for mushrooms in the wild. 'Is that something you've done in the past?' Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall asked Patterson at the Wonthaggi Police Station. 'Foraged for mushrooms?' 'Never,' Patterson replied. While on the stand this week, Patterson's story changed. She told the jury she developed a love for mushrooms and an interest in foraging for them from early 2020 during the COVID lockdowns. She told the jury she started off by picking field mushrooms. Then she began picking others, such as horse mushrooms and slippery jacks, as she grew more confident in identifying the species she picked in her yard, the nearby botanical gardens and a rail trail between Korumburra, Loch and Leongatha. She said that she initially believed the mushrooms she'd used in the fatal beef Wellington were prepackaged button mushrooms from Woolworths and dried mushrooms she'd bought from an Asian grocer in Melbourne. As the investigation went on, though, she said she began to think that maybe dried foraged mushrooms had also made their way into the meal. She told the jury she now accepted that death cap mushrooms had been inside the pastry-encased parcels. While under cross-examination, Patterson agreed it was on August 1, 2023, that Simon first asked if she'd used the dehydrator to kill his parents. She said it was then that she began to wonder whether other mushrooms may have made their way into the meal. 'You agree you told police in your record of interview that you loved Don and Gail?' Rogers asked. 'Yes,' Patterson replied. Rogers: 'Surely, if you had loved them, you would've immediately notified medical authorities about there being a possibility that the foraged mushrooms had gone into the container with the Chinese mushrooms?' 'Well I didn't. I did not tell anybody,' Patterson responded. 'They did love me and I did love them. I do love them.' The dehydrator A tax invoice displayed on screens across the courtroom showed the purchase of a black Sunbeam dehydrator, costing more than $200, and paid for under Erin Patterson's name, address and phone number. Loading Patterson agreed she bought it and used it to dehydrate mushrooms before dumping it at the local tip the day after she was released from hospital because, she claimed, she panicked and feared her children could be taken away from her. In her police interview, the court heard, she denied ever owning such an appliance, or ever having one in her house. 'Those are lies?' her defence lawyer asked. 'Yes,' Patterson replied. 'I had disposed of it a few days earlier in the context of thinking that maybe mushrooms I foraged or the meal I prepared was responsible for making people sick, and then on the Saturday, Detective Eppingstall told me that Gail and Heather had passed away.' She denied knowingly picking or dehydrating death cap mushrooms to cook and serve to her lunch guests. The prosecution case When asked by Mandy about the prosecution case against her, Patterson denied lying about using Asian grocer mushrooms or pretending to be sick after the lunch. 'I am going to ask you a series of questions now, formal questions, about what the prosecution says is the case against you,' Mandy said. 'Did you lie to people when you said that you'd only cooked one batch of mushrooms for the beef Wellingtons?' Patterson: 'No, I didn't lie.' Mandy: 'Were each of the beef Wellingtons on each of the five plates that you served up the same?' Patterson: 'Yes.' Mandy: 'Did you lie about purchasing dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in the Oakleigh area in April of 2023?' Patterson: 'No.' Mandy: 'Did you lie about using those mushrooms from the Asian grocer in the beef Wellingtons?' Patterson: 'No, I didn't.' Mandy: 'Did you pretend to be sick following the lunch?' Patterson: 'No, I didn't.' Mandy: 'Did you intentionally include death cap mushrooms in the beef Wellingtons you prepared on 29 July?' Patterson: 'No.' 'Eye-roll emojis' Patterson was questioned about some messages to her online friends in which she appeared to mock her in-laws' faith with 'eye-roll emojis'. Patterson denied that the messages were mocking – she was frustrated that the family's only solution to her and Simon's issues were to pray, she said. Rogers read out a message Patterson sent to friends on December 6, 2022, about being told by Don that he could not adjudicate in a matter between Erin and Simon because Simon would not share his side of the story. The message, shown to the jury, concluded with two eye-rolling emojis and the sentence: 'This family, I swear to f-----g God.' Patterson told the court: 'The eye-roll emojis was in regard to that being the only solution.' Rogers showed Patterson another message, in which she wrote that Don had called her the previous night to say there could be a solution to her problem if she and Simon got together and prayed, followed by two emojis. Rogers suggested the emojis were also eye-rolling emojis. 'There's a better eye-rolling emoji than this,' Patterson said.
