Breaking: Mushroom murderer likely to die in jail after failed appeal
Erin Patterson lodged an appeal against her convictions over the deaths of three relatives who died after eating beef Wellingtons that contained death cap mushrooms.
Erin Patterson has lost her appeal against her murder convictions over the deaths of three relatives who ate beef Wellingtons that contained death cap mushrooms.
A separate appeal by the prosecution to impose a harsher sentence was upheld and Patterson will be re-sentenced.
The decision today by the Court of Appeal means it is likely Patterson will die in jail.
She had mounted an appeal on seven grounds, all but two of which were dismissed by the Court of Appeal judges.
The appeal was heard on the remaining two grounds, but was dismissed.
The Court of Appeal judges upheld the appeal by prosecutors over the non-parole period that was included in her original sentence.
Delivering the court's judgment, Justice Stephen McLeish said the crimes involved "shocking criminality" and Patterson's conduct deserved to be "denounced in the strongest terms".
He said it was therefore inappropriate for parole to be an option.
The decision to reject Patterson's appeal leaves her with few legal options, with an appeal to the High Court of Australia her only avenue.
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