Doctor reveals mushroom antidote was in short supply after fatal meal: Trial day six, as it happened

That concludes the evidence for today. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale has dismissed the jury for the day. Here’s a wrap of what happened today:

• Darren Fox, whose store Hartley Wells Betta Home Living in Leongatha sells appliances, told the court that in November 2023, an employee told him she had sold a dehydrator to Erin Patterson.
• Ian Wilkinson, the lone survivor among the four guests who fell ill after the fatal lunch, was called to the witness box.
• Ian described his relationship with Erin as friendly and amicable, he said she “seemed like a normal person”.
• Ian told the court he and his wife, Heather, were excited about being invited to the fatal lunch and thought their relationship with Erin might improve as a result.
• Turning to the lunch, the jury heard that Heather and Gail offered to help Erin plate the food, but she rejected the offer and did it all herself at the bench. Ian said there were four large, grey dinner plates – and one smaller plate in a different colour, which Erin ate from.
• Ian recounted that after the group finished eating, Erin told them she had cancer and was very concerned. The group then prayed for Erin and her children.
• Ian and his wife Heather fell sick the evening of the lunch. “It continued right through the night. We had vomiting and diarrhoea,” he said.
• Beth Morgan, a registered doctor and an advanced infectious diseases trainee at Monash Health, was the last witness to give evidence on day six.
• Morgan recounted being told by a pharmacist that there wasn’t enough antidote for four patients, but said they would obtain it from another hospital.
• Erin has pleaded not guilty to the charges and claims the fatal lunch was an accident

The trial will continue tomorrow.

Thanks for following our live coverage.

Award-winning photographer Jason South has taken these photos of Ian Wilkinson, Lisa Shannon and Cindy Hyde outside court. All three gave evidence today.

After the afternoon wears on, Ian Wilkinson’s voice is growing more broken and croaky as he speaks.

The jury heard that as the lunch guests were leaving, there had been nothing out of the ordinary about the discussion on that day.

Defence barrister Colin Mandy, SC, finishes his cross-examination with this statement:

Mandy: It was just a normal lunch.

Wilkinson: Yes.

Ian has finished giving his evidence. He’s taken a seat in the courtroom where a male family member can be seen placing his arm across the pastor’s shoulder.

After an hour-long lunch break, the jury has returned to court, and Colin Mandy, SC, has resumed his cross-examination of Ian Wilkinson about the lunch on July 29, 2023.

Ian told the jury that the guests could sit wherever they wanted. Almost immediately, Mandy moved into a line of questioning about Erin Patterson’s crockery on the day of the lunch and how she’d set the table.

Here’s a little of the cross-examination about the single plate the jury has heard was a different colour to the others:

Mandy: I suggest to you that there was no uniform set of plates that were being used by Erin on that day. That is, there wasn’t a set of four plates that were all the same.

Wilkinson: My memory is that there were four plates that were the same.

Mandy: And let me suggest as well, that there weren’t any gray or stone colored plates in Erin Patterson’s kitchen.

Wilkinson: I remember four gray plates.

Mandy: And likewise, let me suggest this, that there was no smaller plate. All of the plates were the same size.

Wilkinson: The plate was smaller, the different coloured plate.

Mandy: Is it possible that there were two or three plates that were the same and two other different plates?

Wilkinson: No.

Defence barrister Colin Mandy, SC, has now started his cross-examination of Ian Wilkinson.

The jury heard that as Erin prepared the meal, Don Patterson and Ian discussed a book they had recently read.

Ian said he had overheard his wife and Gail Patterson offering to help serve the meal, but Erin had declined.

In that context, Ian said he’d noticed Erin plating the meal.

Here’s a brief exchange between him and Mandy on the topic:

Mandy: Did you see where Erin got the beef Wellingtons from?

Ian: No, I didn’t see that.

Mandy: I suggest to you that you saw them come from a tray, possibly an oven tray.

Ian: Yes, but I didn’t know where that tray came from. I only saw them at the kitchen bench.

Mandy: Do you have a recollection, though, now, of a tray?

Ian: Not a clear recollection.

Mandy: Can I suggest to you that you said previously that the veggies and beef Wellington were on plates served from a tray, possibly an oven tray. Does that assist your memory?

Ian: Yes, I think I’ve said that.

Mandy: And all of the beef Wellingtons came from that tray that you saw Erin … did you see Erin holding it, or was it on the bench?

Ian: I can’t recall.

Mandy then referred Ian to a conversation he had with police in the hospital on September 5, 2023, where he said that the veggies and beef Wellingtons were served from a tray, possibly an oven tray.

Mandy: Does that bring that image in your head or not really?

Ian: Um … yeah, I think it does.