Medical staff give evidence in case of fatal beef Wellington mushroom lunch

He returned to the police car and called the hospital back, when he learned that Patterson had since returned to the urgent care centre.

Martinez-Villalobis said the doctor on the phone, Christopher Webster, then asked him if he could find any leftovers from the beef Wellington meal at the house.

“[Webster] told me she’d returned to the hospital, but while we are at the address he asked if we could do him a favour and collect samples of some tainted food to help them analyse it,” the officer said.

Martinez-Villalobis said a phone was then passed to Patterson, who told the officers where to look for the leftovers.

“She gave me two possible options. An outside bin – a red lid bin – then another indoor option,” he told the jury.

“With that information and the gate code we’ve driven up into the driveway … I’ve gone in double-gloved.

“I searched through food items. She’d given me some pretty specific directions … which bin they may be in.”

The officer said he found the leftovers at the bottom of one of the outdoor bins Patterson had suggested, in “a brown paper Woolworths bag”. There were about 1½ beef Wellingtons inside.

“I used another one of the bags, they were in the bin as well, and put the bag with the food into that bag because it was seeping a bit from the bottom.”

Martinez-Villalobis said Patterson was co-operative throughout the call. He then took the bagged leftovers to the hospital, arriving about 10.19am, and handed them to staff.

‘We really needed to assess her’: Patterson left against medical advice

The second witness called on Thursday, Leongatha Hospital nurse Kylie Ashton, told the jury she recalled Patterson first arriving at hospital about 8.05am on July 31. This was around the same time the Wilkinsons were being transferred out, she said.

Ashton took Patterson’s vital signs, but said the accused was adamant she couldn’t stay there and left – against medical advice – about five minutes later.

“Erin advised she was the person who cooked the meal … and that her children weren’t present on the day, but her children had consumed leftovers with … the mushrooms scraped off,” Ashton said.

“Everyone else was severely unwell, so we needed to make sure she was well.

“I did tell her the other attendees … were unwell and required transferring out.”

Ashton recalled Patterson saying she was not prepared to be admitted to hospital, before agreeing to return later and leaving through the ambulance bay.

“She said she hadn’t come prepared to be admitted [and] needed to go sort out her children. I implored her to stay and suggested we really needed to assess her,” Ashton said. “She said she needed to leave.”

Ashton said she told Patterson her “life was at risk”, attempting to communicate that information as seriously as she could. She was there when Patterson returned around 10am.

‘She appeared upset’: Accused didn’t want to stay at hospital, asked after lunch guests

The first witness on Thursday, a doctor working at Leongatha Hospital when Patterson arrived seeking treatment for suspected gastro symptoms, says the accused killer asked after her lunch guests who had been hospitalised.

Dr Veronica Foote was the director of nursing when Patterson attended urgent care about 8.10am on July 31, the day after her guests had been hospitalised at two regional hospitals.

The jury heard that nurse Kylie Ashton told Patterson to go into a cubicle to be assessed, but that Patterson wanted to leave the hospital.

Foote said Ashton had asked her to speak to the patient as she stood near the hospital entrance.

The jury heard that Patterson told Foote she wasn’t able to stay and needed to go home to make some preparations for her children and animals, and that she would return to the hospital.

At 10.30am, the witness said, Patterson returned.

While under cross-examination from defence barrister Colin Mandy, SC, Foote said Patterson told staff she was feeling unwell. Her vital signs indicated a high heart rate and blood pressure.

Foote said during a physical examination, the accused said she had generalised abdominal pain and diarrhoea, but no vomiting.

“She told me that she’d eaten the same meal as the other guests on the Saturday for lunch, and I asked her where she sourced the mushrooms. She said she sourced them from Safeway and also an Asian grocer,” Foote told the court.

“She appeared upset.”

Foote said it appeared Patterson had a gastro-type illness and was told by staff that her children should also be taken to hospital for assessment.

When Patterson told staff she wanted to take her children herself, Foote said she warned her against it, telling her she could be a risk to herself and other road users if she became increasingly unwell.

Foote said Patterson then spoke with her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, to arrange for the children to be collected from school.

Foote confirmed that during her time with Patterson, they discussed potential treatments including IV fluids, a liver-preserving drug and antibiotics, as well as the possibility of being transferred to a Melbourne hospital.

The doctor confirmed the worst-case situation could be a liver transplant, if required.

Mandy queried whether Patterson had asked about the condition of her lunch guests – Gail and Don Patterson and Heather and Ian Wilkinson – who had also been admitted to hospital.

“She asked you about the state of the other patients?” Mandy asked Foote.

“She did. I responded that I wasn’t able to give her information about other patients due to patient confidentiality,” Foote replied.

Foote told the jury that Patterson had reported having eaten the same meal as her lunch guests on July 29, and said she had suffered diarrhoea since that night.

The trial continues.

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