'We were happy to be invited', only survivor of toxic mushroom lunch tells court
Image caption, Ian Wilkinson, a local pastor, survived after weeks of treatment in hospital
Mr Wilkinson told the court that Ms Patterson had plated "all of the food".
"Each person had an individual serve, it was very much like a pasty," he said. "It was a pastry case and when we cut into it, there was steak and mushrooms."
He added that Gail and Heather picked up four grey plates with the food and set them on the table, while Ms Patterson ate from an "orangey tan" coloured plate.
"Erin picked up the odd plate and carried it to the table. She took it to her place at the table," he said. He also said that his wife told him in hospital the next day that she had "noticed the difference in colours" of the plates.
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Mr Wilkinson said that doctors had first treated them as food poisoning cases and "suspicion was falling on the meat", adding that he could not recall mention of mushrooms at the time.
But the next morning, they were "abruptly woken up by a group of nurses who literally ran us down the corridor in our beds to the urgent care area," he said. A doctor then told the couple that "he'd had communication ... saying it was suspected mushroom poisoning".
"He was very frank. He said it is a very serious situation. He said there was time critical treatment available.” The pair were then taken by ambulance to Dandenong hospital.
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When asked about his relationship with Ms Patterson, Mr Wilkinson said: "I would say our relationship was friendly, amicable. It did not have much depth. We were more like acquaintances. We didn't see a great deal of each other."
"She just seemed like a normal person to me," he added. "When we met things were friendly. We never had arguments or disputes. She just seemed like an ordinary person."
"Heather would have seen Erin more than me, talked to her more than me but we did not consider that the relationship was close," he said.
The invitation was made to Heather Wilkinson at church, a week or two earlier, Mr Wilkinson recalled.
"We were very happy to be invited. It seemed like maybe our relationship was going to improve," he said. "We were very happy to accept."
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Ms Patterson, wearing a light pink striped shirt sat emotionless as Mr Wilkinson began his evidence.
Ian Wilkinson was left seriously ill after the meal, which led to the deaths of his wife and two relatives.
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