A GIPPSLAND Child Protection officer, Katrina Cripps, told the Supreme Court in Morwell on Thursday, May 15, that she had been called to conduct a welfare check on Erin and Simon Patterson’s children following a report to the Child Protection after-hours service on Monday, July 31, 2023.
The Pattersons’ children had been admitted to Monash Children's Hospital earlier that day for assessment after reports they’d eaten leftovers the day after a poisonous mushroom lunch was held at their Leongatha home on Saturday, July 29, 2023.
Ms Cripps visited the children at Monash Children's Hospital the next day, on Tuesday, August 1 also speaking with Simon and Erin Patterson, following it up with a visit to Mrs Patterson’s home on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 2.
Together with another child protection colleague, Ms Cripps discussion with Erin Patterson at Monash on the Tuesday was wide-ranging covering her relationship with her husband and his parents, custody and child support arrangements, the lunch, the beef Wellington and where she had sourced the mushrooms.
Asked about her relationship with Simon’s extended family, Ms Cripps said Erin had told her that Don and Gail Patterson had been “like the parents she hadn't had”, following the deaths of her own parents some years earlier.
She said they'd always treated her like a daughter-in-law, that she loved them very much and felt very supported by them until the relationship changed in recent times.
She said Erin had told her that since her relationship with Simon changed, she felt he was isolating her from his family and that she wasn’t being invited to family events that she had previously attended.
According to evidence given by Simon Patterson in court on Friday, May 2, it was in October 2022 that he and Erin had an exchange via Signal messages, during which Erin felt slighted about being belatedly invited to Gail's 70th birthday party.
“It seems that my invite to tomorrow is a bit of an afterthought and not even from your parents, so I might pass thanks as I'd rather not go somewhere I'm not welcome,” Erin said in a message.
Ms Cripps was also asked if she spoke to Erin about her relationship with Simon.
She did. She said Erin told her that Simon was controlling and emotionally abusive at times and that he said things that would make her doubt herself as a parent and as a mother.
Ms Cripps said Erin did say, however, that they had a good relationship until recently.
She also discussed a family lunch with her in-laws, Gail and Don Patterson, and the kids, some four or five weeks before the beef Wellington lunch, going on to discuss that as well.
Asked what the reason was for the lunch on July 29, 2023, Ms Cripps said Erin told her she had arranged it to discuss a medical issue, agreeing with legal counsel for the prosecution, Sarah Lenthall, that it was also to get advice on how to address the issue with the children.
She said she spoke about preparing the beef Wellington from a recipe in the Recipe-Tin cook book, served with mashed potato, green beans and packet gravy.
“Did she tell you where she got the mushrooms for the beef Wellington?”
“She did, yes,” said Ms Cripps, noting that Erin told her she used mushrooms from the local Woolworths store, adding that she’d read that the dried ones she got from the Asian grocer would add flavour to the dish.
They also discussed what the adults had eaten and how the children came to get leftovers from the meal.
Ms Cripps said Erin told her she had eaten half of her beef Wellington, Ian and Heather all of theirs, Gail half and Don all of his plus Gail’s leftover piece.
There was also testimony about Ms Cripps’ visit to Erin Patterson’s house at 1pm on Wednesday, August 2 and a call she had facilitated for SallyAnn Atkinson of the Department of Health, who had been trying to contact Erin about a possible public health issue associated with where the accused had sourced the poisoned mushrooms.
Ms Lenthall referred to a phone call Erin Patterson had with Simon Patterson, around who was collecting the children from school on Monday, July 31, asking if Erin said anything else was discussed.
She said that Erin told her Simon had said that the other adults who were at the lunch were also unwell.
During cross-examination, Ms Stafford asked Ms Cripps about a phone conversation she had with Erin Patterson on Friday, August 4, 2023, asking if she had heard any updates on the health of the family members who attended the beef Wellington lunch.
She agreed Erin had told her that she hadn't been told anything and that she was finding this distressing.
“In your notes of that conversation, you say you were aware at that time that Heather Wilkinson had passed away?” said Ms Stafford.
Ms Cripps said yes but that she didn’t think it was her place to pass on that information.
The court heard earlier that Heather Wilkinson passed away in the early hours of Friday morning, August 4, 2023 and her sister Gail Patterson passed away that evening.
The trial continues in the Supreme Court in Morwell on Friday.
