Politics
Australian mushroom meal survivor says ‘half alive’ after wife’s killing
The only guest to survive a toxic mushroom lunch with Australian murderer Erin Patterson said Monday he feels “half alive” without his wife — one of the killer’s three poisoning victims.
Pastor Ian Wilkinson wept in court as he spoke of the loss of his wife Heather after she ate a beef Wellington dish laced with death cap mushrooms — the world’s deadliest fungi.
Patterson, 50, was convicted in July of triple murder for serving the poisonous fare to her estranged husband’s parents, aunt and uncle during a sumptuous lunch at her home in rural Leongatha in the state of Victoria in 2023.
Within days of the meal, the parents and aunt were dead.
But the uncle, a local Baptist pastor, survived after weeks in hospital and gave testimony at his host’s murder trial, which became a global media sensation.
Patterson, wearing a paisley shirt, black trousers and sandals, attended the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne for a two-day pre-sentencing hearing, facing a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
“The silence in our home is a daily reminder. I continue to carry a heavy burden of grief over her untimely death,” the pastor said of his murdered wife, Heather.
“It is a truly horrible thought to live with, that somebody could decide to take her life. I only feel half alive without her,” he said.
‘Offer of forgiveness’
Wilkinson said his own health had never fully recovered from the meal, leaving him with reduced liver function, ongoing respiratory issues and less energy.
“I very, very nearly died,” he told the court.
With regards to the harm done to him, Wilkinson said: “I make an offer of forgiveness to Erin.”
But for her three murder victims, he added: “I am compelled to seek justice.”
The home cook’s husband Simon Patterson, who had declined an invitation to the deadly lunch, told the court of his grief over the loss of his relatives.
“I miss my parents and aunt more than words can express. I will be aware for the next 30 years that they could still be alive had Erin chosen not to murder them,” he said.
“My children, two children, are left without grandparents as a result of these murders. They have also been robbed of hope for the kind of relationship with their mother that every child naturally yearns for,” he added.
The killer’s husband said their children were strong and would overcome the hurdles to thrive.
But he criticised “callous” media and strangers for following his family and forcing them to dodge reporters or leave cafes to avoid the cameras.
Mystery motive
During the hearing, defence and prosecution lawyers agreed that Patterson should face life imprisonment for the murders.
The defence argued that she should be eligible to apply for parole after 30 years, citing the security restrictions placed on her movements in jail because of her “notoriety”.
The prosecutor, however, said the crime was “so cruel and so horrific” that she did not deserve such mercy.
The judge said he would hand down her sentence on September 8 at the court in Melbourne.
At the trial last month in the rural Victorian town of Morwell, a 12-person jury found Patterson guilty of murdering her husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as his aunt Heather, by cooking and serving the meal in July 2023.
Jurors also pronounced her guilty of the attempted murder of Wilkinson.
At the time of the deadly meal, Patterson’s relationship with her husband had turned sour as the pair — long apart but still legally married — fought over his child support contributions.
The motive of the murders, however, remains a mystery.
DUBAI: Dubai has announced the implementation of a new public safety law introducing stricter regulations for public spaces and events, with fines ranging from AED500 ($136) to AED1 million ($272,000), authorities said.
Under the legislation, repeat violations within one year could result in fines of up to AED2 million, officials added.
The new law, which takes effect across the emirate on June 1, sets out enhanced safety requirements for public venues and gatherings.
The rules were issued by Dubai’s Ruler, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
According to the regulations, public venues and events must ensure safe entry and exit routes, adequate lighting, and capacity limits to prevent overcrowding.
Event organisers will be required to provide firefighting equipment, emergency evacuation plans, first aid facilities, and trained security personnel.
Compliance with safety instructions at public venues has been made mandatory.
The law also requires adherence to designated swimming times at beaches and prohibits access to restricted areas.
Possession of explosives or fireworks without a permit is banned, as is the use and transport of hazardous or flammable materials.
India has allowed an Iranian warship to dock as a humanitarian gesture, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Saturday, after the US sank another Iranian navy vessel off neighbouring Sri Lanka.
The Lavan docked at India’s southern port of Kochi on Wednesday, the same day the US submarine struck Iranian navy frigate Dena, after an urgent request from Tehran, an Indian government source told Reuters.
US President Donald Trump has said destroying the Iranian navy is one aim of the war he and Israel launched against the Islamic Republic a week ago.
The Lavan – an amphibious landing vessel, according to the US Naval Institute’s online news site – and two other ships “were coming in for a fleet review and then they got, in a way, caught on the wrong side of the events,” Jaishankar told the annual Raisina Dialogue event.
“I think we really approached it from the point of view of humanity, of other than whatever the legal issues were,” he said. “I think we did the right thing.”
At least 87 people were killed in the US attack on the Dena in Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone, 19 nautical miles off the coast, outside its maritime boundaries.
India received the docking request for the Lavan on February 28, the day the Iran war started, the source said late on Friday, adding that the request “was urgent as the vessel had developed technical issues”.
Its 183 crew members have been accommodated at naval facilities in Kochi, said the source, who asked not to be identified citing confidentiality.
The Dena was on its way back from a naval exercise organised by India, according to the drill’s website and Sri Lankan officials.
Sri Lankan authorities said on Friday that they were escorting the Iranian naval ship Booshehr to a harbour on the eastern coast and moving most of its crew to a navy camp near Colombo.
- Iran to suspend strikes on neighbours unless attacks from them.
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Israel and Iran traded attacks on Saturday as the war entered a second week, while the Islamic Republic made an unusual apology to neighbouring states for its “actions”, apparently seeking to calm regional anger at Iranian strikes on Gulf civilian targets.
“I personally apologise to neighbouring countries that were affected by Iran’s actions,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said, urging them not to join US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
He said Iran’s temporary leadership council had agreed to suspend attacks on nearby states unless strikes on Iran originated from their territory.
Hours later, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said their drones struck a US air combat centre at Al Dhafra Air Base, near Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. Reuters could not independently verify that report.
Huge explosions were heard in several parts of the Iranian capital, state media reported.
Gulf states hit by drones and missiles
The US-Israeli war on Iran has already spilled beyond Iran’s borders, as Tehran has responded by hitting Israel and Gulf Arab states hosting US military installations and Israel has launched fresh attacks in Lebanon.
The UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have all reported drone and missile attacks over the past week.
Gulf states voiced immediate outrage that their civilian infrastructure — hotels, ports and oil facilities — were struck despite their having had no part in the US-Israeli attacks.
How far Pezeshkian’s statement reflects a decision to back off by Iran, or if it should be read as a warning that Tehran remains ready to strike across the region, is not yet clear, with some strikes still reportedly directed at Gulf states on Saturday morning.
Iran had mended fences with its Gulf neighbours in recent years, including with former regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia — a diplomatic campaign that imploded as the Revolutionary Guards launched a blitz of drones and missiles over the past week.
No deal without surrender, says Trump
While Gulf states host US military bases, they had told Washington they would not allow these to be used for any attacks on Iran.
Iran’s apparent strategy of maximum chaos has driven up the costs of the conflict by raising energy prices, hurting global business and logistics links and shaking trust in the stability of a critical region for the world’s economy.
Pezeshkian’s remarks come as diplomatic prospects for an end to hostilities appear bleak, with US President Donald Trump demanding Tehran’s “unconditional surrender”.
“There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
“After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,” he added.
The US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani.
Iranian attacks have killed 11 people in Israel, and at least six US service members have been killed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to Pezeshkian over the numerous civilian casualties resulting from “the armed Israeli-American aggression against Iran” and called for an immediate halt to hostilities, the Kremlin said.
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