Medical staff ‘implored’ Victorian woman to stay at hospital after fateful mushroom lunch, court hears
Prosecutor Jane Warren asks Ashton, who was the director of nursing at Gippsland Southern Health Service in July 2023, about her conversation with Erin before she discharged herself from hospital on 31 July.
That was two days after the fateful beef wellington lunch.
Ashton says she explained to Erin the importance of her staying at hospital to be assessed.
Warren asks about Erin’s response. Ashton says:
That she had not come to hospital preparing to be admitted and she needed to go away to sort out her children.
Ashton says she “implored” Erin to stay. She says she told Erin her “life was at risk” and two guests from the lunch were in the intensive care unit.
Erin refused to move into a hospital bay for examination, Ashton tells the court.
Key events
Prosecution calls Cindy Munro as next witness
Cindy Munro is the prosecution’s next witness. In July 2023, Munro was working at Leongatha hospital as deputy director of nursing, the court hears.
Munro says on the morning of 31 July, she was part of Ian and Heather Wilkinson’s transfer to Dandenong hospital due to suspected mushroom poisoning.
A reminder that Ian and Heather are the uncle and aunt of Simon Patterson – Erin’s estranged husband.
Munro says this required transferring them as inpatients at Leongatha hospital to the urgent care clinic on site.
Munro was caring for Ian before his transfer, she says.
Dr Chris Webster, who previously gave evidence, then arrived at hospital.
Munro says she heard Webster tell Ian that medical staff suspected death cap mushroom poisoning. She says Webster told Ian staff at Dandenong hospital had requested he and Heather be transferred there.
Munro later saw Erin at the urgent care clinic when she arrived at Leongatha hospital at about 8am.
Erin’s blood pressure and pulse was high, court hears
Under cross-examination, Ashton agrees that she did not give Erin specific details about the other lunch guests due to confidentiality requirements.
Ashton recalls calling Foote for assistance to help convince Erin to stay at the hospital.
She agrees she told Foote that Erin’s blood pressure and pulse was high.
Ashton says she cannot recall Erin specifically saying she would come back but that she agreed to return to hospital.
The cross-examination has concluded.
Erin Patterson’s lawyer Colin Mandy cross-examining Kylie Ashton
Mandy asks about the previous evidence from medical witnesses that Erin was present at the hospital for five minutes before she discharged herself.
Ashton confirms everything she has described occurred within this five-minute time period.
She says Erin repeatedly said she could not stay at hospital.
Mandy suggests that Erin said she was prepared to have treatment, just not at that point.
Ashton says Erin did not initially say this but agreed to return to hospital at a later time.
Erin signed ‘discharge at own risk form’, court hears
The jurors are shown Erin Patterson’s “discharge at own risk form” that she signed when leaving Leongatha hospital at 8.10am that day, against medical advice.
Kylie Ashton recalls reaching Erin before she left the hospital and requesting she sign the form.
She says she told Erin she needed to return to hospital and have treatment to ensure she didn’t become unwell like the other lunch guests.
Ashton told Erin her blood pressure and pulse were elevated at this point:
I said these could be symptoms of illness and we needed to do further investigation to ensure she was safe.
Medical staff ‘implored’ Victorian woman to stay at hospital after fateful mushroom lunch, court hears
Prosecutor Jane Warren asks Ashton, who was the director of nursing at Gippsland Southern Health Service in July 2023, about her conversation with Erin before she discharged herself from hospital on 31 July.
That was two days after the fateful beef wellington lunch.
Ashton says she explained to Erin the importance of her staying at hospital to be assessed.
Warren asks about Erin’s response. Ashton says:
That she had not come to hospital preparing to be admitted and she needed to go away to sort out her children.
Ashton says she “implored” Erin to stay. She says she told Erin her “life was at risk” and two guests from the lunch were in the intensive care unit.
Erin refused to move into a hospital bay for examination, Ashton tells the court.
Kylie Ashton did not know who advised Erin Patterson to attend hospital, court hears
Ashton tells the court about her interaction with Erin on 31 July – two days after the lunch.
Erin sat on the chairs near the nurses station, the court hears.
Ashton says she asked Erin what brought her to hospital:
She had told me she had been the fifth member of the lunch and she had consumed the meal that was prepared and that she had … diarrhoea and nausea since that occasion but not vomiting.
Ashton says Erin said she was advised to attend the hospital. But she says she does not know who advised Erin.
Ashton told Erin she may need to administer N-acetyl cysteine to her to protect her liver, the court hears.
The prosecution has called their next witness, Kylie Ashton.
Ashton was working as director of nursing at Gippsland Southern Health Service in July 2023, the court hears.
She was working at Leongatha hospital on 31 July.
Dr Veronica Foote tells court she warned Erin Patterson poisoning prognosis could include requiring liver transplant
Foote reviewed Erin upon her return to hospital, the court hears.
Under cross-examination, Foote agrees Erin complained of diarrhoea and abdominal pain and nausea.
She is asked about her evidence about Erin’s blood pressure and says it was at the upper level of a normal range.
Mandy asks Foote about her assessment that Erin “appeared to have a gastro-type illness” and she confirms this.
He turns to Foote advising Erin that her children – who she said had eaten leftovers of the beef wellington without mushrooms – should be tested. Foote agrees Erin wanted to pick up her children from school but she stressed the risks of doing so.
She says she discussed Erin commencing IV fluids, antibiotics and N-acetyl cysteine – a liver treatment, before she was transferred to Monash medical centre.
Foote agrees she warned Erin the prognosis of the poisoning could include requiring a liver transplant.
Dr Veronica Foote continues evidence
Dr Veronica Foote, who was working as a GP at Leongatha hospital in July 2023, is continuing her evidence.
Patterson’s lawyer Colin Mandy SC, is cross-examining Foote.
He asks Foote about Erin discharging herself from the hospital at 8.10am on 31 July – two days after the lunch.
She agrees that at 8.10am Erin said she would return to the hospital soon.
Mandy says at this point Foote discussed with Erin the possibility of her being transferred to a hospital in metropolitan Melbourne.
Foote says this was the advice given to the medical team but she cannot recall if she explicitly told Erin.
Erin later returned to the hospital at 9.48am, the court hears.
The jury is just coming into the room, so we should see the prosecution continue its evidence soon.
What we learned yesterday
While we wait for the trial to begin today, here’s a recap of what the jury heard yesterday:
1. Erin discharged herself against medical advice from Leongatha hospital five minutes after being told she may have been exposed to potentially fatal mushroom poisoning. The court was played a triple zero call made by Dr Chris Webster from Leongatha hospital on 31 July – two days after the lunch – to raise concerns about Erin’s health and safety after her discharge.
2. When Erin returned to hospital later that morning, Webster stressed the importance of her children – who she said had eaten leftovers of the beef wellington without mushrooms – being tested. He said Erin said they would be frightened. He replied “they can be scared and alive or dead”, the court heard.
3. Erin told her brother-in-law, Matthew Patterson, in a phone call at about 10.30am on 31 July – two days after the lethal lunch – that the mushrooms in the beef wellington had been sourced from Woolworths and an Asian grocer, the court heard. Webster said Erin told him the mushrooms in the dish had been sourced from Woolworths.
4. The court heard a written statement from Danielle Romane, an official at the state’s health department. She said a request to search the state’s cancer registry found no record of Erin having received a cancer diagnosis.
5. Gail Patterson’s daughter, Anna Terrington, said her mother reported the lunch at Erin’s house had gone “well”. She said they had spoken on the phone at about 5pm on the day.
Welcome to day eight of Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial.
We’re expecting today’s evidence to begin at 10.30am.
Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha, regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023.
She is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and the aunt of her estranged husband, Heather Wilkinson. The attempted murder charge relates to Heather’s husband, Ian.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The defence’s case is that the events were an accident and Patterson never intended to harm her lunch guests.
