MELBOURNE, (Australia): (Bernama-dpa) An Australian woman convicted of murder over a deadly mushroom-laced lunch she served relatives has lost her bid to overturn her convictions and instead been re-sentenced to a harsher prison sentence, reported German news agency dpa.
Last year, Erin Patterson was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 33 years on three charges of murder and one of attempted murder relating to a Beef Wellington lunch she served in July 2023.
Her legal team had argued she did not receive a fair trial and presented seven grounds for appeal.
On Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed her appeal, but granted the prosecution's appeal against her sentence.
The judges said Patterson's offending was "extraordinarily cold and calculated" and it was inappropriate to fix a non-parole period.
Patterson's conduct deserved to be "denounced in the strongest terms," the judges said.
They re-sentenced Patterson to life without parole, meaning she will spend the rest of her life in prison.
During the appeal hearing, crown prosecutors had argued Patterson's sentence was "manifestly inadequate." Prosecutors had asked for life without parole during sentencing.
In 2023, Patterson served the poisonous Beef Wellington at her home to her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, and Heather's husband, Ian.
Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died in hospital days after eating the meal. Ian Wilkinson was taken to hospital in a critical condition but survived. The Beef Wellington was found to have contained highly poisonous death cap mushrooms. - Bernama-dpa
