Mushroom murderer Erin Patterson’s prison ‘torture’ as supporters say she is frightened and hated by fellow inmates
Erin Patterson, the Australian "mushroom murderer" serving a life sentence for the fatal beef Wellington poisonings, is reportedly being held in near-constant solitary confinement at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, prompting prisoner rights group Justice Action to describe her treatment as tantamount to torture. The group says Patterson is confined to her cell for at least 22 hours a day with contact limited to one other inmate through a wire mesh, and warns this breaches UN "Mandela Rules" limiting solitary confinement to 15 consecutive days, raising concerns about her deteriorating mental health.
Justice Action co-ordinator Brett Collins, a former inmate, said Patterson is frightened and increasingly isolated, and is proposing she be given a trained peer support mentor at no cost to taxpayers to mitigate psychiatric risks. Patterson, 51, was convicted of murdering three relatives with death cap mushroom-laced beef Wellingtons in July 2023 and must serve 33 years before parole eligibility, with the sentencing judge citing the extended solitary confinement expected due to threats from other prisoners who reportedly despise her for betraying their trust. Separately, it emerged this week that Patterson has been approved for the weight-loss drug Ozempic, reportedly because her isolation prevents exercise, a decision that has drawn criticism from a prison source who called it an odd priority given staff safety concerns.
- Erin Patterson held in near-solitary confinement, 22+ hours a day in her cell.
- Justice Action calls conditions "torture", wants her given peer counselling.
- She's also been approved for Ozempic due to inability to exercise.
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Erin Patterson is an Australian woman who was convicted in July 2023 of murdering three of her husband's relatives by serving them beef Wellingtons laced with death cap mushrooms, a case that drew huge public interest and earned her the nickname "the mushroom murderer". She is now serving a life sentence and must spend at least 33 years in prison before she can apply for parole.
She is being held at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a women's prison in the Australian state of Victoria, where she is reportedly kept isolated from the general prison population for most of the day because other inmates are said to resent her and pose a safety risk. This near-solitary confinement has drawn attention from Justice Action, a prisoner rights group, whose spokesperson Brett Collins argues the conditions harm her mental health and may breach international guidelines on solitary confinement.
The case matters because it raises questions about how prisons balance an inmate's safety and wellbeing against practical security concerns, particularly for high-profile prisoners who face hostility from others behind bars.