Mushroom cook Erin Patterson accused of tampering with prison food that allegedly caused another inmate to fall ill
The claim was made by a fellow inmate at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a maximum-security women's prison in Melbourne, where Patterson was being held on remand, the Herald Sun reports.
Her legal team has denied any wrongdoing, describing the accusation as 'baseless.' A Justice Department spokesperson later confirmed there was 'no evidence to support that there has been any contaminated food or suspected poisonings at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.' The department also stated that Patterson had never been in a position to prepare meals for other prisoners.
Reporting on the alleged incident was previously restricted while Patterson's trial was ongoing.
Inside the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, sources described Patterson as 'entitled' during her time on remand. 'All the girls have issues with each other in there,' one insider said. 'The unit Erin was housed in was almost like a melting pot of tension as they are confined to the middle of the jail and have to be escorted anywhere they go.'
She had been incarcerated since November 2023, charged with the murder of Don and Gail Patterson, both aged 70, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66.
She was also charged with the attempted murder of Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, 71 — the sole survivor of the fatal meal.
According to sources, tensions had been escalating between Patterson and other inmates in the unit last year.
It was during this time that one prisoner reportedly fell ill after consuming a meal prepared in the shared unit.
Patterson was subsequently placed in solitary confinement — referred to as 'the slot' — for more than 22 hours a day while prison officers investigated the incident.
Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Four additional attempted murder charges, relating to her former husband Simon Patterson, were withdrawn prior to the trial.
The conditions of Patterson's detention also became a point of contention during her trial. In the absence of the jury, her barrister, Colin Mandy SC, told Justice Christopher Beale that his client had been denied basic items while held at Morwell Police Station.
'She didn't have access to her brief, she didn't have access to writing materials,' he said. 'She had agreed with Corrections that she could have a doona and a pillow and she wasn't given those things.'
Mr Mandy argued that Patterson required 'special treatment' to ensure she could participate in her defence, given the scale of the case and the volume of evidence.
'She spent the night cold — and awake because she was cold — and she can't operate like that,' he said.
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