Prosecution launches appeal against Erin Patterson’s 33-year sentence

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The Director of Public Prosecutions will appeal the sentence handed down to mushroom cook killer Erin Patterson.

On Monday, a spokesperson for the DPP confirmed it had filed an application to appeal Patterson’s sentence on the basis the term of life with a non-parole period of 33 years was “manifestly inadequate”.

Erin Patterson arriving at court for her plea hearing.

On September 8, Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale sentenced Patterson to a term of life, with a non-parole period of 33 years, for the murder of her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson.

At the time, Beale resisted calls from the prosecution to jail Patterson for life with no prospect of parole, telling the court her case was so infamous she was likely to remain in restricted conditions in custody.

He also told Patterson he had no hesitation in finding her offending fell into the worst category of murder. She maintains her innocence.

Beale also addressed the lack of apparent motive in killing her lunch guests. The judge said some murders occur for no apparent reason and that only Patterson knows why she committed them.

The sentencing process followed an 11-week trial, sitting at Morwell, that culminated in the jury finding the 51-year-old guilty of all charges.

This included the attempted murder of the lunch’s sole survivor, Baptist pastor Ian Wilkinson, who was also fed her beef Wellingtons laced with death cap mushrooms at the killer’s Leongatha home in July 2023.

Simon Patterson, the killer’s estranged husband, was also invited to lunch but cancelled the evening before.

Last week, Patterson’s new barrister Richard Edney told a court his team needed more time to prepare their appeal against the triple murderer’s conviction, flagging their intention to appeal her conviction.

While the prosecution had 28 days from the date of sentencing to lodge any appeal documents, the defence has twice as long to do so, with a new court directive permitting a 28-day extension of time due to the workload of some defence teams.

Patterson sentence makes her one of Victoria’s longest-serving female inmates. She will have just turned 82 before she is granted the opportunity for freedom in 2056.

She has been in custody since her arrest by detective from the homicide squad on November 2, 2024.