
Woman charged with murder following house fire
Patrick 'Paddy' Douglas, 55, died from his injuries in hospital after the blaze in the Main Street area of Ballymoney on Tuesday.
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On Saturday, a 34-year-old woman appeared before Ballymena Magistrates' Court charged with his murder.
The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, spoke in court only to confirm she understood the charge.
A detective constable told the court she was able to connect the accused to the charge.
The court heard the woman was spoken to on the morning of the fire and arrested on Wednesday.
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After two days of interviews she was charged on Friday.
The court heard a preliminary report from an expert which effectively said that it was not possible to exclude an electrical fault due to the extent of the fire damage.
However, the detective constable said an expert formed the opinion that the fire may have been caused by direct ignition of combustible materials.
Under questioning, the PSNI representative said the report also says it could not exclude that an electrical fault may have occurred.
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There was no application for bail and legal aid was granted.
Under an application from the accused's legal representative, the judge ordered restrictions on naming the woman.
The case will return to court on July 28.

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The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
The mushroom murder trial: Bizarre case of woman who killed her ex-husband's relatives with beef wellington
Erin Patterson has been convicted by a court in Australia for murdering three elderly relatives of her estranged husband with a lunch laced with poisonous mushrooms, concluding one of the biggest criminal trials in the country. Patterson, 50, gave her estranged husband's parents and his aunt and uncle beef wellington at her home in July 2023. The next day all four guests were hospitalised with symptoms of death cap mushroom poisoning, and later three of them died. The court found her guilty of murdering three people and attempting to murder a fourth person. She was charged with killing her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather's husband. Patterson was arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder over the deaths. Here's what you need to know about the trial. Who is Erin Patterson, and what is she accused of? Patterson is a mother-of-two from the Victorian town of Leongatha, east of Melbourne. She has been charged with murdering Don Patterson, Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, and charged with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson. The defendant had also been charged with three counts of attempted murder relating to her husband Simon Patterson, but those charges were dropped on Tuesday, before the trial opened. In Australia, murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, while attempted murder has a maximum 25-year sentence. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. What happened at the lunch? On 29 July 2023, Patterson hosted her estranged husband's parents Don and Gail, as well as Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson and Heather's husband, church pastor Ian Wilkinson. She had invited them all for lunch at her home two weeks prior. Patterson had also invited her husband, Simon, but he declined. The pair had been separated since 2015. She served her guests beef wellington, which is a beef fillet wrapped in a mushroom paste and covered with pastry, with a side of mashed potato and green beans. The day after the lunch, all four guests fell ill and went to hospital complaining of nausea and diarrhoea. Within days, Don, Gail and Heather had died, while Ian Wilkinson survived after receiving an organ transplant. What is the prosecution case? Prosecutor Nanette Rogers opened her case at the beginning of May in Victoria's Supreme Court, and the jury heard from witnesses including Patterson's estranged husband Simon, the lone survivor Ian Wilkinson, as well as medical experts and Patterson herself. The court heard that on the way to hospital, Heather told Simon she had been puzzled by Patterson eating from a plate that looked different to those she had given her guests. "I noticed that Erin put her food on a different plate to us. Her plate had colours on it. I wondered why that was. I've puzzled about it since lunch," she said, according to the prosecution. Simon told his aunt that Patterson might have run out of plates. The prosecutor said Patterson had not eaten poisonous mushrooms, and had also not fed her children, then aged nine and 14, any leftovers from the lunch. The prosecutor said she did not need to provide a motive for the killing, and the jury could make its finding without one. "You might be wondering now why would the accused do this? What is the motive? You might still be wondering this at the end of this trial," Rogers said. "You do not have to be satisfied what the motive was or even that there was a motive." What did Patterson say in her own defence? In her testimony, Patterson admitted to foraging for mushrooms and using them in her meals. She acknowledged lying after the fatal lunch but denied knowingly serving toxic mushrooms. She described her attempts at dehydrating mushrooms as an 'experiment'. In the final moments of her cross-examination, the chief prosecutor put three key accusations to Patterson: that she deliberately sourced death cap mushrooms, knowingly included them in the beef wellington and intended to kill her guests. To all three, Patterson responded: 'Disagree.' Prosecutors alleged that she had fabricated her foraging history, calling her a 'self-confessed liar' who had no supporting evidence such as books or messages about foraging, but her lawyers maintained that she was simply a mushroom enthusiast and 'a person of good character'. Patterson's defence team has argued the poisoning was a 'terrible mistake', with her barrister Colin Mandy SC telling the jury that while the guests had been poisoned by mushrooms, it had been accidental. "The defence case is what happened was a tragedy. A terrible accident," Mandy said. Her defence conceded Patterson had lied to police when she told them she had not foraged for wild mushrooms. "She did forage for mushrooms. Just so that we make that clear, she denies that she ever deliberately sought out death cap mushrooms," Mandy said. What has the judge said? Supreme Court justice Christopher Beale, who has presided over the trial in the regional Victorian town of Morwell, instructed the jurors to discount lies Patterson admitted to telling, including about her own health. 'The issue is not whether she is in some sense responsible for the tragic consequences of the lunch, but whether the prosecution has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that she is criminally responsible,' he told the jury. 'Similarly, the fact that, on her own admission, Erin Patterson told lies and disposed of evidence must not cause you to be prejudiced against her,' he added. 'This is a court of law, not a court of morals.'


The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Erin Patterson trial live: Australian woman found guilty of murdering in-laws with death cap mushroom lunch
Erin Patterson has been found guilty on all counts in a triple murder case that gripped Australia, with a jury finding that she deliberately laced a family lunch with death cap mushrooms. Patterson, 50, was found guilty of murdering three people and attempting to murder a fourth person. She was charged with killing her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law, Donald Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather's husband. Patterson cooked and served her estranged husband's parents and his aunt and uncle beef wellington at her Leongatha home in July 2023. The next day, all four guests were hospitalised with symptoms of death cap mushroom poisoning, and later, three of them died. The accused, who had pleaded not guilty to all charges saying the deaths were accidental, will be sentenced at a later date. She faces the maximum sentence of life imprisonment for the murder charges. Mushroom killer Erin Patterson found guilty on all counts A court in Australia on Monday convicted Erin Patterson of murdering three elderly relatives of her estranged husband with a meal laced with poisonous mushrooms as one of the biggest criminal trials gripping the country concluded. Patterson, 50, was found guilty of murdering three people and attempting to murder a fourth person. She was charged with killing her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law, Donald Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather's husband. Patterson cooked and served her estranged husband's parents and his aunt and uncle beef wellington at her Leongatha home in July 2023. The next day, all four guests were hospitalised with symptoms of death cap mushroom poisoning, and later, three of them died. Patterson found guilty of murdering three elderly relatives of her estranged husband with a meal laced with poisonous death cap mushrooms Alisha Rahaman Sarkar7 July 2025 06:40 More about Erin Patterson Australia


The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Verdict handed down in mushroom murders case
An Australian jury has found Erin Patterson guilty of murdering three elderly relatives of her estranged husband. Patterson was convicted of killing her mother-in-law, father-in-law, and her mother-in-law's sister, and attempting to murder the sister's husband. The victims died after consuming a beef wellington meal, which was laced with poisonous death cap mushrooms, prepared by Patterson at her Leongatha home in July 2023. Patterson had pleaded not guilty, saying the deaths were accidental, but the prosecution argued she deliberately used the toxic fungi and lied about her actions. She faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, with sentencing to be determined later.