Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Jury hears claims Erin Patterson’s estranged husband was ‘controlling and emotionally abusive’

Child protection practitioner Katrina Cripps told the jury she received a report about Patterson’s children on July 31 – two days after the lunch.

Ms Cripps said she visited the children and Patterson’s estranged husband Simon at the Monash Children’s Hospital on August 2.

The jury heard Ms Cripps said she spoke to Patterson at 2.55pm – which was the first time she had ever talked to the woman.

She said Patterson told her she had the children during the week and Simon had them on weekends.

Patterson told Ms Cripps the children talked about not wanting to stay at their dad’s on weekends anymore because he was ‘sleeping a lot’.

Patterson said Simon had become ‘mean and nasty’ after the issue of child support was raised, the jury heard.

Ms Cripps said Patterson told her Simon had been ‘controlling and emotionally abusive’, which caused her to doubt her ability as a mother and dented her self-esteem.

Patterson also told Ms Cripps she had given half her inheritance to Simon (pictured below).

The jury heard Patterson spoke about a previous lunch and talked about who she invited to it.

The jury heard Patterson, who is wearing a striped navy white top, told Ms Cripps she approached Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson at the Korumburra Baptist Church the week before the infamous July 29 meal.

Ms Cripps said Patterson said she found the recipe for her meal in a cookbook and she ‘wanted to do something new and special’ for lunch and bought chopped mushrooms from a local Woolworths and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer.

Patterson said she used the dried mushrooms because she heard it would ‘add flavour’ to the beef Wellingtons.

Defence lawyer Sophie Stafford pressed Ms Cripps (pictured below) on how much she remembered about her conversation at the hospital and her meeting at Patterson’s Leongatha home.

Ms Cripps admitted she gave her statement to police on January 5 last year, which was about five months after the conversations took place, the jury was told.

The court heard Patterson said she was aware family members were sick, but was not aware how ill they were.

Ms Cripps said Patterson mentioned she scraped the mushrooms away for her kid’s meals.

Ms Stafford suggested Patterson told Ms Cripps that she said the kids didn’t like mushrooms, but she didn’t say they didn’t like pastry.

Ms Cripps said Patterson told her ‘loose bowel movements’ commenced on Saturday.

The jury heard Patterson said Simon called her on Sunday and asked why she wasn’t at church, and she said she was unwell and Simon said others were unwell, but he didn’t ‘name names’.

Ms Cripps agreed she wasn’t entirely sure what Patterson said she ate of her meal portion.

The jury heard Ms Cripps believed Patterson ‘may have eaten part’ of her beef Wellington.

Previously, Ms Cripps, when asked by Crown prosecutor Sarah Lenthall how much Erin ate of her beef wellington, she replied: ‘Half.’

‘I don’t believe she ate it all,’ Ms Cripps added.

Ms Cripps said Patterson told her the lunch guests chose their plates and she took the last one.

Patterson also indicated she put two plates aside for her children.

The jury heard after this initial conversation Patterson’s children were discharged from the hospital.

During a phone call on August 4, Ms Cripps asked Patterson if she heard any updates on how people were.

Patterson answered she ‘hadn’t been told anything’ and she was ‘finding it distressing’.

Ms Cripps referred to her notes and told the jury she was aware Heather was dead but didn’t tell Patterson due to ‘welfare concerns’.

‘It wasn’t my place to (inform Patterson),’ Ms Cripps said.

The jury also heard Patterson ‘expressed concerns’ about ‘security and privacy’ and planned to change her phone number.

Ms Cripps continued her evidence after the lunch break with the aid of her notes. She said Patterson told her she ate ‘half’ the beef Wellington.

Lone lunch survivor pastor Ian Wilkinson (pictured below middle with supporters) has returned to court and is sitting in earshot of Patterson.

Ms Cripps said Patterson told her she’d spoken to Simon on the phone at the hospital.

Simon said he picked the kids up from school and took them to Monash Medical Centre.

Ms Cripps asked Patterson if Simon gave her any further information and was told ‘the adults at the lunch were very unwell’.

The jury heard Ms Cripps met Patterson at her home while her kids were at school.

She said Patterson ‘showed her around’.

Ms Cripps told Patterson she needed to call a Sally-Anne Atkinson who was investigating the ‘public health issue’.

Patterson made the call and put it on speaker, the jury heard.

Ms Cripps could hear the conversation and said Ms Atkinson wanted to talk to Patterson about where she got the dried mushrooms.

During that conversation, Patterson again claimed she could not recall where she bought the mushrooms from.

The jury heard Patterson said she could not find them on her online banking either – if the purchase was small it was likely to be cash.

Ms Cripps said Patterson described dried mushroom packaging as a non-resealable plastic bag with a white label.

Patterson said she had opened the package in April but decided not to use them.

Ms Cripps said Patterson was going to use the mushrooms in a ‘carbonara’, but decided not too because they had a ‘strong smell’.

Ms Cripps said she stored the mushrooms in Tupperware before she rehydrated them, chopped them up and added them to the beef Wellington.

Patterson said she used the mushrooms in the Wellingtons because they ‘wouldn’t be the primary flavour’.

Ms Cripps said Patterson was asked if she picked the mushrooms, but gave no response and just stared at her phone.

Intensive care specialist Professor Andrew Bersten (pictured below) yesterday told the jury he reviewed all of Patterson’s medical files from several facilities and found no evidence she had cancer.

The jury also heard evidence from other key witnesses including the tip manager who found the discarded dehydrator and handed it to police.

The court also heard about a woman who died in May last year after cooking death cap mushrooms in a meal and eating the deadly fungi in a separate and unrelated incident.

A mushroom expert also told the jury how leftovers from the lunch were sent to the Royal Botanical Gardens for testing, but they almost got overlooked as the doctor had left work for the day.

She did manage to get a hold of the leftovers which she tested at her own home.

The trial continues today.

Accused mushroom murderer Erin Patterson, 50, last week witnessed both her children’s recorded video evidence.

Patterson, who is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, after serving them a deadly meal laden with death cap mushrooms, became emotional after seeing video evidence from her son and daughter.

Patterson is also accused of attempting to murder Heather’s husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson who survived the lunch after spending several weeks in an intensive care unit.

The court heard Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon, was also invited but didn’t attend.

Witnesses told the jury Patterson ate her serving from a smaller and differently coloured plate than those of her guests, who ate from four grey plates.

Patterson told authorities she bought dried mushrooms from an unnamed Asian store in the Monash area of Melbourne, but health inspectors could find no evidence of this.

The health department declared the death cap poisoning was ‘isolated’ to Patterson’s deadly lunch.

Multiple witnesses including Simon Patterson, Ian Wilkinson and other family members have given emotion-charged evidence to the jury.

Medical staff have told the jury of the horrifying symptoms the dying lunch guests and Ian Wilkinson suffered.

Patterson’s movements at hospital and her abrupt departure have also been aired in court as the trial continues this morning.