'We were happy to be invited', only survivor of toxic mushroom lunch tells court

The only surviving guest of a deadly beef wellington lunch at the heart of a high-profile Australian court case has described being run down a hospital corridor to urgent care after medical staff realised he had eaten toxic mushrooms.

Ian Wilkinson told the courtroom on Tuesday that he and his wife Heather had been "very happy to be invited" to the lunch hosted by Erin Patterson.

But the meal left Heather and two other relatives dead, and Mr Wilkinson seriously ill.

Ms Patterson, who is on trial for the murder of three people and the attempted murder of another, has pleaded not guilty and her defence team says she "panicked" after unintentionally serving poison to family members she loved.

Three people died in hospital in the days after the meal: Ms Patterson's former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson.

Mr Wilkinson, a local pastor, survived after spending seven weeks in hospital, including three weeks in intensive care at the Austin hospital in Melbourne. He gave the packed courtroom details about the lunch, describing how he and his wife took ill afterwards, and being told by medical staff that the situation was "serious".

The jury has heard that there is no dispute that the lunch of beef wellington, mashed potatoes and green beans contained death cap mushrooms and caused the guests' illnesses.

Whether Ms Patterson intended to kill or cause very serious injury is the main issue in the case, the judge has told the jury.

Mr Wilkinson told the court that Ms Patterson had plated "all of the food".

"Each person had an individual serve, it was very much like a pasty," he said. "It was a pastry case and when we cut into it, there was steak and mushrooms."

He added that Gail and Heather picked up four grey plates with the food and set them on the table, while Ms Patterson ate from an "orangey tan" coloured plate.

"Erin picked up the odd plate and carried it to the table. She took it to her place at the table," he said. He also said that his wife told him in hospital the next day that she had "noticed the difference in colours" of the plates.

After eating the lunch, Mr Wilkinson recalled being unwell through the night with vomiting and diarrhoea.

Ms Patterson's ex-husband Simon Patterson, who last week told court he'd declined an invitation to the lunch, had visited them after discovering his parents had been ill the whole night as well. He had insisted on calling an ambulance as his own parents had done. But the wait for an ambulance was too long, so Simon drove them to a local hospital, and then to Leongatha hospital, Mr Wilkinson said.

Mr Wilkinson said that doctors had first treated them as food poisoning cases and "suspicion was falling on the meat", adding that he could not recall mention of mushrooms at the time.

But the next morning, they were "abruptly woken up by a group of nurses who literally ran us down the corridor in our beds to the urgent care area," he said. A doctor then told the couple that "he'd had communication ... saying it was suspected mushroom poisoning".

"He was very frank. He said it is a very serious situation. He said there was time critical treatment available."

The pair were then taken by ambulance to Dandenong hospital.

Earlier in the day, Mr Wilkinson was shown a picture of the dining room table on an iPad and he marked where each of the five people at the lunch had been seated.

He said that both he and Heather "ate the entire meal", while Don ate his meal along with half of the beef wellington that Gail did not finish.

"There was talk about husbands helping their wives out."

He said Ms Patterson was "definitely" eating but couldn't say "with certainty" how much she ate.

There was a cake for dessert as well as a fruit platter but Mr Wilkinson told the court that not much was eaten because everyone was full from the main course.

When asked about his relationship with Ms Patterson, Mr Wilkinson said: "I would say our relationship was friendly, amicable. It did not have much depth. We were more like acquaintances. We didn't see a great deal of each other."

"She just seemed like a normal person to me," he added. "When we met things were friendly. We never had arguments or disputes. She just seemed like an ordinary person."

"Heather would have seen Erin more than me, talked to her more than me but we did not consider that the relationship was close," he said.

The invitation was made to Heather Wilkinson at church, a week or two earlier, Mr Wilkinson recalled.

"We were very happy to be invited. It seemed like maybe our relationship was going to improve," he said.

"We were very happy to accept."

The court was shown a copy of Mrs Wilkinson's diary where she had written, "Erin for lunch" with a pencil.

Written in blue ink: "12:00" - which Mr Wilkinson said was the time they were to be picked up by Don and Gail Patterson. Another word "fruit" in the diary referred to the fruit platter they were taking to the lunch, he said.

Mr Wilkinson said that after the lunch, Erin Patterson announced that she had cancer – something the defence has already told the jury it accepted was a false claim.

"She said she was very concerned because she believed it was very serious, life-threatening," he said. "She was anxious about telling the kids. She was asking our advice about that. 'Should I tell the kids or not tell the kids about this threat to my life?'

"She was asking, 'What do you think I should do?"

"In that moment, I thought this is the reason we've been invited to the lunch," said Mr Wilkinson, adding that he "didn't quite catch" what type of cancer she had said.

"I thought it was some sort of ovarian or cervical cancer - something like that."

He said it was a "relatively short conversation" and felt like it lasted around 10 minutes. The discussion ended because the Patterson children and a friend were arriving back at the house.

"I realised we weren't able to continue, and that we hadn't prayed about it," Mr Wilkinson said. "I suggested we pray and I asked a prayer asking for God's blessing that Erin would get the treatment she needed, that the kids would be okay."

Ms Patterson, wearing a light pink striped shirt sat emotionless as Mr Wilkinson began his evidence.

Last week when the trial opened, her lawyer said there was no intent to hurt anyone and the deaths were the result of a tragic accident - though many of the facts are not in dispute and it is accepted that she lied several times to police.

On Monday the jury heard from members of a true crime Facebook group that Ms Patterson was part of.

One of the witnesses, Christine Hunt, was asked about Erin Patterson's relationship with her estranged husband Simon.

She told the court that the words "controlling" and "coercive" had been used by Ms Patterson.

Another member of the same group, Daniela Barkley, told the court that Erin Patterson had been "excited" about buying a dehydrator, and the jury was shown several images shared with the group, which showed mushrooms drying on the metal racks of the appliance.

In a text message shown to the court, Ms Patterson said "I've been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything" - including recipes such as brownies so her children couldn't tell they were eating them.

The court also heard that in July 2023, she'd asked the group for advice on cooking a beef Wellington, the dish that was served to the four guests at that deadly lunch later the same month.