'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 started giving evidence.

Ian Wilkinson was left seriously ill after the meal, which led to the deaths of his wife and two other relatives. he said the family had been "happy to be invited" to the lunch.

Erin Patterson - who is charged with the murder of three relatives 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.

The victims included Ms Patterson's former in-laws, Don Patterson, 70, and Gail Patterson, 70, as well as Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66.

Mr Wilkinson, a local pastor and Heather's husband, survived after weeks of treatment in hospital.

He told the packed courtroom that his family had thought the lunch invitation was a sign that their relationship was "going to improve".

Asked about his relationship with Ms Patterson he added: "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.

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

He added: "Heather would have seen Erin more than me, talked to her more than me but we did not consider that the relationship was close"

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

Last week, her lawyer has 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.