A juror has been discharged from the Erin Patterson trial after Justice Christopher Beale received information that he had breached instructions to not discuss the trial with anyone but fellow jurors.

“Under section 33 of the Juries Act, I have the power to discharge a juror if it appears to me that the juror should not continue to act as a juror. A moment ago I discharged (a) juror,” Justice Beale told the jury panel on Thursday.

“I received information that he had been discussing the case with family and friends contrary to my instructions.”

Justice Christopher Beale emphasised that he had not made a positive finding that the juror had discussed the case with his family and friends, but he had no information before him to rule it out.

“I want to remind you of my instruction that you should only discuss the case with your fellow jurors in the privacy of the jury room,” Justice Beale continued.

“I have asked him not to contact you and you are not to contact him directly or indirectly while this trial is continued.”

Two of the main toxins in death cap mushrooms were detected in food samples taken from the lunch leftovers and the food dehydrator Patterson allegedly dropped off at a local tip.

The toxicology tests were aimed at detecting traces of alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin.

For the leftovers, samples were taken of the pastry, meat, mushroom paste, and a gravy.

Beta-amanitin was found in a sample of the mushroom paste and meat sample.

For the food dehydrator, four samples of vegetable matter from the food dehydrator were found to contain both alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin.

The court has been shown a slideshow of photos outlining the various steps toxicologists took while examining the leftovers of the beef wellington.

The photos included the food remnants in zip-lock bags (when they first arrived at hospital) and food samples in viles with ethanol.

The court has been shown the toxicology results for the lunch guests, Erin Patterson, and her two children.

Alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin were detected in Don Patterson’s urine sample, which was taken while he was still alive (anti-mortem) on July 30 at Dandenong Hospital.

However, other anti-mortem samples - for blood, serum (which is a fluid containing red blood cells) and hair - did not detect either toxin, nor did post-mortem samples of blood or a section of his liver.

Gerostamoulos explained it was not uncommon for alpha-amanitin or beta-amanitin to not appear in anti-mortem or post-mortem samples, depending on the type of sample and when it was taken.

He said samples taken as soon as possible after the poisoning event were most likely to detect the toxins, which are also most easily detectable in urine.

“They (alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin) don’t persist over time,” he said.

“If after 24 hours, or 30 hours, a sample is unavailable, you are not going to find alpha-amanitin, or beta-amanitin.”

Gerostamoulos added that a finding of “undetected” means the sample has not found traces of the substance in amounts above the test’s detectable threshold.

The court was also shown the toxicology results for Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson.

Neither alpha-amanitin or beta-amanitin were found in any of the samples taken from both women.

For Ian Wilkinson, beta-amanitin was detected in his serum, but there was no alpha-amanitin found.

There was also alpha-amanitin detected in his urine (but no beta-amanitin). Death cap toxins weren’t discovered in any of his other sample results.

Erin Patterson and her two children submitted blood and sample serum, with toxicology results finding no detectable death cap mushroom toxins.

The samples, taken both while he was alive (anti-mortem) then once he died (post-mortem), included blood, hair samples, stomach contents, liver, and fluid taken from his eye.

is 0.1 milligrams per kilogram.

“So for a 70kg adult, it’s about 50g, or three tablespoons,” Gerostamoulos said.

Gerostamoulos said those findings were based off animal studies, not humans, for obvious reasons.

Gerostamoulos, said his department develops tools to measure toxins, looks for poisons in samples, then make reports on their findings.

He said the main toxins in death cap mushrooms - which his lab does not routinely look for - are alpha amanitin, beta amanitin, and to a lesser degree, gamma amanitin.

He said the toxin cells for death caps are “rather large molecules” and are “quite stable”, meaning they are resistant to temperature changes.

“(They are quite stable) when they are frozen or when they are subjected to heat.

“So when they are prepared in a meal, they are quite stable - their structure remains intact.

“They are quite water soluble compounds, but it depends on how they have been prepared.”

The child protection worker said she spoke with a public health officer at about 11.13am on August 2, 2023.

The public health officer explained she was having difficulty getting a hold of Patterson to discuss where she obtained the dried mushrooms.

The child protection worker said she told the public health officer that she had a pre-arranged meeting that day at Patterson’s home and she would facilitate them speaking then.

Later that day, Patterson showed the child protection worker around the house and she helped her return the call to the public health officer while the pair sat at the dining table.

Prior to the call, the child protection worker said she advised Patterson she should check her bank account statements for the dried mushroom purchase.

In response, she said she saw Patterson “scrolling on her phone” but “did not see the screen”, with the mother-of-two then stating she could not find a statement but she could of “paid cash” if it was a small purchase.

The court heard the phone call was then made on speaker phone, while the child protection worker made notes.

The worker said Patterson told the public health officer the dried mushrooms from the Asian grocer were in an non-resealable bag with a white label.

The worker said Patterson was going to use the mushrooms in another dish she cooked prior to the lunch, but decided not to.

“She said she was going to use them in a carbonara, but when she opened them, they had a very strong smell. She (then) put them in a tupperware container (for storage).

(That may have occurred) around April.

Asked if Patterson said why she then decided to use them in the beef wellington, the child protection worker said the mother-of-two said “ because they wouldn’t be the primary flavour” in that dish.

The childcare worker said Patterson told her that she had only eaten half of the beef wellington at the lunch.

The worker said Patterson said she was hosting the lunch to discuss a medical issue and cooked a beef wellington for her guests.

The worker said Patterson said she found the recipe in a “RecipeTin cookbook” and “wanted to do something new and special” for the lunch.

The worker: “She said she bought pre-sliced mushrooms from Woolworths and she had dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer. She said the dried mushrooms would add a nice flavour to the beef wellington.

“She said she had begun to feel unwell that evening and her son had a friend over. She said she dropped him off.

“She said her son had to run into the shops (after they dropped off his friend) and she had to stay in the car (because she had diarrhoea).

“(Patterson explained) it would provide a cork (to prevent the diarrhoea), if she stayed sitting down.”

Under cross examination, the defence quizzed the child protection worker about the timeline of Patterson’s reported loose bowel movements.

During their discussion, the worker reiterated that Patterson had reported suffering diarrhoea on Saturday, and that evening during an outing, “she stayed in the car to act as a cork so she didn’t have an accident.”

At that point, Justice Christopher Beale chimed in seeking clarification:

Justice Beale: “Was cork her word?”

The worker: “Yes.”

The child protection worker said that Patterson had also expressed feeling “controlled” by Simon.

“She talked about feeling that he was at times controlling and at times emotionally abusive and he would say things that made her doubt herself as a parent and impact her self esteem,” she said.

“She talked about when they separated she gave Simon half her inheritance because she thought that is what you did when you separated.

The worker said Patterson reported having a good relationship with her former-in-laws, but that had changed when her and Simon’s relationship began to decline.

“She said Don and Gail had been the parents she hadn’t had. That her parents died a long time ago. That she felt loved and supported by them. But that relationship had changed recently and she felt isolated from them,” the worker said.

The worker said Patterson expressed that she had no family support.

“She said she felt like she had lost all of that support (Simon’s family) as well.”