Doctor surprised Erin Patterson left hospital after being told she had potentially been poisoned, court hears
An on-call doctor at Leongatha Hospital made the triple-0 call that first alerted police to an alleged poisoning at the beef wellington lunch hosted by accused murderer Erin Patterson.
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A concerned doctor made the triple-0 call that would first alert police to the alleged poisoning of several family members at a beef wellington lunch at Erin Patterson’s home, a court has heard.
The call, made after the accused mushroom cook killer discharged herself against medical advice two days on from the meal, has been played to the jury in her high-profile trial.
Three doctors and three family members gave evidence on day seven of Ms Patterson’s trial in Morwell, where she stands accused of murdering her estranged husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.
They died after she served them a beef wellington lunch allegedly laced with lethal death cap mushrooms at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.
Heather’s husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, 71, was the only guest to survive.
Ms Patterson, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, claiming what happened was a “tragedy and a terrible accident”.
Dr Chris Webster, who was working as an on-call doctor at Leongatha Hospital on July 30, took to the witness box on Wednesday, telling the jury he first treated Heather and Ian for gastro-like symptoms.
He said he first suspected the meat was the culprit, explaining that the most likely cause of food poisoning would not be the other ingredients of the beef wellington.
But after hearing from doctors caring for Don and Gail at Dandenong Hospital, he started treating Heather and Ian for death cap mushroom poisoning early on July 31.
That same morning, Dr Webster said Ms Patterson arrived at Leongatha Hospital about 8.05am and told him: “I’ve got gastro.”
When asked by Crown prosecutor Jane Warren whether he recognised her as the fifth lunch guest, he replied: “I recognised her as the chef of the meal.”
He said he asked her where she got the mushrooms from.
“It was a single-word response. Woolworths,” he told the court.
The Supreme Court heard he wanted to treat Ms Patterson for suspected death cap mushroom poisoning, but she had discharged herself against medical advice by 8.10am.
Dr Webster told the jury he was “surprised” that Ms Patterson had left given he informed her she had potentially been exposed to “deadly” mushrooms.
He said after calling her three times and reaching voicemail, he contacted police “to get them to bring Erin back”.
He told the triple-0 operator: “I have a concern regarding a patient that presented here earlier that has left the building and is potentially exposed to fatal toxin from mushroom poisoning and I’ve tried several times to get a hold of her on her mobile phone.”
After giving the operator her details, he added: “There were five people that ate a meal on Saturday and two of them are in intensive care at Dandenong Hospital.
“Two have just been transferred from Leongatha Hospital to Dandenong Hospital and Erin presented this morning with symptoms of poisoning.”
Ms Patterson returned of her own accord to Leongatha Hospital by 9.50am.
Dr Webster told the court he spoke to a police officer over the phone to tell them they would no longer find her at home.
“I took the opportunity to request the police officer obtain some leftover beef wellington.”
CCTV footage was shown to the jury of Dr Veronica Foote photographing samples of the leftover beef wellington, which arrived in a brown Woolworths bag after it was fished out of a bin.
Earlier, Anna Terrington, the youngest daughter of Don and Gail, fought back tears as she was questioned about the lunch that claimed her parents’ lives.
The court heard Ms Terrington travelled to Dandenong Hospital to be by their bedsides after they had been admitted with serious gastro-like symptoms.
When asked if they had a conversation about the lunch, Ms Terrington recalled that Gail had said Ms Patterson “wanted to tell them about a medical issue she had”.
But she said her mum did not detail what the medical issue was, nor did she ask.
Her brother, Matthew Patterson, told the court he called the accused while their parents were in hospital to ask where she had sourced the mushrooms for the beef wellington.
“She mentioned that there were fresh mushrooms from Woolies and that there were dried mushrooms from a Chinese grocer or supermarket … in the Oakleigh area,” he said.
Ruth Dubois, the youngest daughter of Heather and Ian, said her mum had explained how the accused had approached her and Gail at church in early July to invite them to the lunch.
“Just the two I was looking for,” Ms Patterson said to the women, according to Ms Dubois.
She told the court she was surprised to hear she had invited her parents given “that had never happened before”.
The trial, before Justice Christopher Beale, continues.
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Originally published as Doctor surprised Erin Patterson left hospital after being told she had potentially been poisoned, court hears
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