Erin Patterson accused by another inmate of tampering with prison food
Erin Patterson was given time in solitary confinement after she was accused by another inmate of tampering with prison food while waiting for her high-profile trial to begin.
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Triple murderer Erin Patterson was accused of tampering with prison food that made another inmate sick while waiting for her high-profile trial to begin.
The allegation was made by a fellow inmate who was held in the same unit as Patterson at maximum security prison Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne.
Patterson was thrown behind bars in November 2023 after she was charged with murdering her estranged husband’s family with a beef wellington meal laced with death cap mushrooms.
Sources said the mushroom cook had fallen out with other inmates last year before at least one fellow prisoner fell sick when they ate a meal that was prepared in the unit.
The mother of two was then transferred into a hard locked-down area known as the “slot”, while officers probed the claim.
In the “slot”, inmates are placed in solitary confinement for more than 22 hours a day with little human contact.
It is understood the complaint about Patterson was investigated but no known further action was taken.
Patterson’s campsaid the allegation was baseless.
The Herald Sun was prevented from reporting the alleged incident while she was awaiting her trial.
Patterson was found guilty of murdering Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and attempting to murder Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson, 71, who was the only guest to survive the lunch.
Meanwhile, prosecutors dropped four of her attempted murder charges relating to Simon Patterson before the trial began.
It comes as another source said Patterson had acted “completely entitled” while she was on remand at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
“All the girls have issues with each other in there,” he 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.”
At the start of her trial, in the absence of the jury, Patterson’s barrister Colin Mandy SC said his client was refused a doona and pillow while being held at Morwell police station.
“She had an agreement with Corrections about the things that she would be permitted to take into her cell and last night, for whatever reason, that wasn’t the case,” he said to Justice Christopher Beale.
“She didn’t have access to her brief (of evidence), she didn’t have access to writing materials.
“She had agreed with Corrections that she could have a doona and a pillow and she wasn’t given those things.
“At some stage she was given a blanket, but she spent the night cold – and awake because she was cold and she can’t operate like that.”
Mr Mandy said Patterson required “special treatment” because she was facing a murder trial with a “massive” brief of evidence.
“There was some suggestion to her that she wasn’t going to get special treatment,” he said.
“It is our submission that someone who is in police cells for five weeks, facing a murder trial … with a massive brief of evidence, should be afforded some accommodation.
“Because in some ways she does deserve special, not deserve, but she requires special treatment so that we can do our job properly so that she can provide us with proper instructions so that she’s not uncomfortable.”
A justice department spokeswoman yesterday said: “There is no evidence to support that there has been any contaminated food or suspected poisonings at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.”
She added Patterson had never been able to prepare food for fellow inmates.
Originally published as Erin Patterson accused by another inmate of tampering with prison food
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