Erin Patterson seeks leave to appeal convictions in Victoria

Erin Patterson, the woman convicted last month of poisoning three relatives with death cap mushrooms, will seek permission to appeal her convictions after a brief administrative hearing at the Supreme Court of Victoria on Thursday. Her lawyer, Richard Edney, told the court that an application for leave to appeal would be filed and an extension to the usual 28-day filing period was granted by Justice Christopher Beale.

Patterson, 51, was sentenced on September 8 to life imprisonment with a nonparole period of 33 years after a jury found her guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder for the deaths and illness that followed a lunch at her home in Leongatha on July 29, 2023. Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, died after eating portions of a beef Wellington the jury found had been laced with death cap mushrooms. Heather Wilkinson’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, also ate the meal and survived after weeks in hospital.

Under Victoria’s rules, defendants have 28 days from sentencing to lodge an appeal. Edney told the court Patterson intended to seek leave to appeal her convictions, though formal appeal documents had not been filed...