Benjamin Netanyahu demands end to ‘reprehensible' antisemitic acts after Melbourne synagogue attack
A 34-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection with the alleged arson attack on Friday night, when 20 people were inside the East Melbourne Synagogue. The congregation escaped unharmed through a rear door, and firefighters managed to contain the blaze to the entrance area of the 148-year-old building.
Police said the arrested man, Angelo Loras, is a resident of Sydney, the capital of neighbouring New South Wales. He has been charged with offences including criminal damage by fire.
'I view with utmost gravity the antisemitic attacks that occurred last night in Melbourne, which included attempted arson of a synagogue in the city and a violent assault against an Israeli restaurant by pro-Palestinian rioters,' Mr Netanyahu said in posts on X on Sunday morning.
'The reprehensible antisemitic attacks, with calls of 'Death to the IDF' and an attempt to attack a place of worship, are severe hate crimes that must be uprooted.
'The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community, and we demand that the Australian government take all action to deal with the rioters to the fullest extent of the law and prevent similar attacks in the future.'
Victoria police said the Toongabbie man was charged with 'reckless conduct endanger life, reckless conduct endanger serious injury, criminal damage by fire, and possess a controlled weapon'.
'Detectives will continue to examine the intent and ideology of the person charged to determine if the incident is in fact terrorism,' police said.
It was the first of three suspected antisemitic incidents in Melbourne between Friday night and early Saturday.
Authorities have yet to establish a link between the incident at the synagogue and the two attacks on businesses.
A restaurant was attacked on Friday night, with protesters chanting 'Death to the IDF', in reference to the Israel Defence Forces. Police are also investigating the spray-painting of a business in Melbourne's northern suburbs, along with an arson attack on three vehicles linked to the business before dawn on Saturday.
Israeli president Isaac Herzog joined Mr Netanyahu in warning that the attack must be Australia 's 'last'.
'It is intolerable that in 2025, we are still faced with the chilling image of an attempt to burn Jews alive as they pray, and attacks on Jewish businesses,' he said as he urged the Australian government to confront the 'stain' of antisemitism with 'urgency and resolve'.
Australian home affairs minister Tony Burke met with Jewish leaders at the damaged synagogue on Sunday. Mr Burke told reporters that investigators were searching for potential links between the three incidents.
'At this stage, our authorities have not drawn links between them. But obviously there's a link in antisemitism. There's a link in bigotry. There's a link in a willingness to either call for violence, to chant violence or to take out violent actions. They are very much linked in that way,' Mr Burke said.
'There were three attacks that night and none of them belonged in Australia. Arson attacks, the chanting calls for death, other attacks and graffiti – none of it belonged in Australia and they were attacks on Australia,' Mr Burke added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
18 minutes ago
- BBC News
Erin Patterson trial: Nine weeks of testimony that gripped a courtroom
For two years, the mystery of exactly what happened at Erin Patterson's dining table has gripped the people sat down to eat lunch at her home in rural Australia on 29 July 2023. Within a week, three would be dead, a fourth would be fighting for his life, and the fifth would be under investigation for intentionally poisoning her guests with wild a much-watched trial in the tiny town of Morwell, Erin has now been found guilty of murdering three relatives and attempting to kill eyes on the jury throughout, she remained silent and composed as they delivered verdicts which could see her spend the rest of her life in self-described mushroom lover and amateur forager had told the court it was all a tragic over nine weeks, the jury heard evidence suggesting she had hunted down death cap mushrooms sighted in nearby towns and lured her victims to the fatal meal under the false pretence she had cancer - before trying to conceal her crimes by lying to police and disposing of evidence. The orange plate Gail and Don Patterson had turned up on Erin's doorstep just after midday on that fateful Saturday, an orange cake in hand. With them were the Wilkinsons: Heather, Gail's sister, and her husband Ian, who weeks after the meal would emerge from a coma to find he was the only guest to have absent was Erin's estranged husband Simon Patterson. He'd pulled out the day before, saying he felt "uncomfortable" attending amid tension between the former couple. Erin had spent the morning slaving over a recipe from one of the nation's favourite cooks, tweaking it to make individual serves of beef Wellington: expensive cuts of steak slathered with a mushroom paste, then encased in the jury, Ian recounted watching the parcels go onto four grey plates – and an orange one for Erin – with mashed potatoes, green beans and gravy heaped on the side.A sixth serve, allegedly prepared for Simon in case he changed his mind and came over, went into the fridge. Erin was originally accused of attempting to murder him too – on several occasions – but those charges were dropped on the eve of the trial and the allegations were not put to the group said grace and then dug in, exchanging "banter" about how much they were eating."There was talk about husbands helping their wives out," Ian they nibbled on dessert before Erin stunned her guests with a declaration she had cancer, the trial the defence concedes that was not true. But on that day, the two elderly couples gave Erin advice on how to tell her kids, before ending the meal the way it had begun – with a told the court he didn't know the host well, but "things were friendly"."She just seemed like a normal person to me," he that night, all of the guests were very ill, and the next day the four went to hospital with severe symptoms. Donald - who had eaten his portion of lunch and about half his wife's - told a doctor he had vomited 30 times in the space of a few hours. Suspicion soon began to trickle trial heard several of those asked to the lunch had been surprised by the invitation. Simon said it was rare for his estranged wife to host such an event, and Ian said he and his late wife had never even been to Erin's house hindsight, one of the guests apparently wondered aloud why Erin had served herself on a different type of plate to the rest of the family."I've puzzled about it since lunch," Heather said, according to a witness. "Is Erin short of crockery?"Later, at hospital in Leongatha, Erin's ailing guests asked if their host was sick too. They'd all eaten the same meal, hadn't they?Detectives would pose similar questions days later, in a police station interview room with Erin."We're trying to understand what has made them so ill," the detectives were heard saying, in a tape played to the court. "Conversely, we're trying to understand why you're not that ill." An orange cake Detailing the lunch publicly for the first time, from the witness stand, Erin Patterson offered an told the court that after waving off her relatives she had cleaned up the kitchen, before rewarding herself with a slice of the orange cake Gail had brought."[I ate] another piece of cake, and then another piece," she said. Before she knew it, the rest of the cake was gone and she felt overfull."So I went to the toilet and brought it back up again," Erin told the trial. "After I'd done that, I felt better."She outlined for the jury a secret struggle with bulimia, saying she had been regularly binge-eating and purging since her teens - something her defence team suggested accounted for her lack of symptoms. Erin had taken herself to hospital two days after the lunch, reporting feeling ill. But she initially rebuffed the urgent pleas of staff who wanted her and her children – who she claimed had eaten leftovers – to be immediately admitted for treatment. One "surprised" doctor, who had seen the other sick lunch guests, was so concerned for their welfare that he called police to ask for when medics finally got Erin in for checks, neither she nor her children demonstrated similar symptoms to the others who'd eaten at the house, and tests showed no traces of death cap mushroom a precautionary 24 hours, Erin was sent on her way. Red flags Her victims, though, continued to suffer in hospital. And as their relentless diarrhoea and vomiting was escalating to organ failure, Erin was covering her tracks, prosecutors day after she was discharged from hospital, CCTV captured Erin travelling to a local dump and disposing of a food dehydrator later found to contain traces of poisonous was also using three phones around the time of the lunch, two of which disappeared shortly afterwards. The one she did hand over to police had been repeatedly wiped – including while detectives were searching her investigators, the red flags began mounting about the source of the mushrooms elicited odd answers. Patterson claimed some of them had been bought dried from an Asian grocery in Melbourne, but she couldn't remember which suburb. When asked about the brand, or for transaction records, she said they were in plain packaging and she must've paid cash. Meanwhile detectives found out death cap mushrooms had been spotted in two nearby towns in the weeks before the meal, with concerned locals posting pictures and locations to online plant database iNaturalist. Erin's internet history showed she'd used the website to view death cap mushroom sightings at least once before. Her mobile phone location data appeared to show her travelling to both areas – and purchasing the infamous food dehydrator on her way home from one of those Erin told police she'd never owned such an appliance, despite an instruction manual in her kitchen drawer and posts in a true crime Facebook group where she boasted about using it."I've been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything. Mixed into chocolate brownies yesterday, the kids had no idea," she wrote in digital forensics experts managed to recover some of the material on her devices, they found photos showing what looked like death cap mushrooms being weighed on a set of kitchen the trial, Erin said she realised in the days after the lunch that the beef Wellington may have accidentally included dried mushrooms that she had foraged and mistakenly put in a container with store-bought ones. But she was too "scared" to tell a soul."It was this stupid knee-jerk reaction to dig deeper and keep lying," Erin told the court. No clear motive What baffled police, though, was the question of told the trial he and Erin had initially remained chatty and amicable after their split in 2015. That changed in 2022, he said, when the couple started having disagreements over finances, child support, schools and said there was no inkling of ill will towards his family, though. "She especially got on with dad. They shared a love of knowledge and learning."With his voice faltering, Simon added: "I think she loved his gentle nature."But Erin herself told the court she was feeling increasingly isolated from the Patterson family – and there was evidence presented which indicated she had grown frustrated with them."You had two faces," the prosecutor Nanette Rogers said, after making Erin read aloud expletive-laden Facebook messages in which she had called Simon a "deadbeat" and his parents "a lost cause".The prosecution opted not to present a specific motive, however, saying the jury may still be wondering what drove Erin to kill long after the trial wrapped. The lack of a clear motive was key to Erin's defence: why would she want to kill her family, people she said she loved like her own parents?"My parents are both gone. My grandparents are all gone. They're the only family that I've got… I love them a lot," she told police in her else could be explained away, Erin's barrister messages critical of her in-laws were just harmless venting, they said; the cancer claim a cover for weight-loss surgery she was planning to have but was too embarrassed to phone tracking data isn't very precise, so there's no real evidence she actually visited the towns where death cap mushrooms were sighted, they also suggested that Erin was sick after the meal, just not as sick as the others because she'd thrown it all up. She strongly disliked hospitals, which was why she had discharged herself against medical her lies and attempts to dispose of evidence were the actions of a woman worried she'd be blamed for the accidental deaths of her guests."She's not on trial for lying," Colin Mandy said. "This is not a court of moral judgment."He accused the prosecution of trying to force a jigsaw puzzle of evidence together, "stretching interpretations, ignoring alternative explanations because they don't align perfectly with the narrative".But the prosecution argued Erin had told so many lies it was hard to keep track of them."Perhaps the starkest," Dr Rogers said, were her attempts to explain the cancer fib. To prove that she actually had plans to undergo gastric-band surgery, Erin claimed to have booked an appointment at a Melbourne clinic – one that did not offer the treatment."She has told lies upon lies because she knew the truth would implicate her," Dr Rogers said. "When she knew her lies had been uncovered, she came up with a carefully constructed narrative to fit with the evidence – almost."Dr Rogers said the jury should have "no difficulty" in rejecting the argument "this was all a horrible foraging accident".Ultimately, after a week of deliberations, the jury did just will return to court for a sentencing hearing at a later date.
The Guardian
18 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Australia mushroom trial verdicts live: Erin Patterson expressionless in court as jury finds her guilty of murders and attempted murder
Update: Date: 2025-07-07T05:45:45.000Z Title: Erin Patterson Content: Australian woman found guilty in trial over beef wellington lunch that contained death cap mushrooms – follow updates Who are and the other key figures in Australia's mushroom lunch trial? Five key moments in the murder trial of Australia's mushroom lunch cook Cait Kelly Mon 7 Jul 2025 07.45 CEST First published on Mon 7 Jul 2025 05.42 CEST From 6.21am CEST 06:21 The jury has found caused the death of her lunch guests. On the three charges of murder she has been found guilty. On the charge of attempted murder she has also been found guilty. Updated at 6.24am CEST 7.43am CEST 07:43 Benita Kolovos Judge thanks 'excellent' jurors for their work After the verdicts were delivered, Beale thanked the jurors for their work over more than 10 weeks. He described them as 'excellent' and praised them for remaining in high spirits – even after the trial ended up going weeks longer than expected. Beale said they would be exempt from appearing on another jury for 15 years. There were initially 15 people empanelled as potential jurors – three additional people than the usual 12, in case someone fell sick or was discharged. One juror was removed in May after the courts heard information they had discussed the case with family and friends. Two others were balloted off after the judge gave his final directions to the jury. In the end, seven men and five women were left to determine the verdict. Updated at 7.45am CEST 7.33am CEST 07:33 Five key moments from murder trial Adeshola Ore was one of our key reporters covering this case, blogging live for several weeks, including from Morwell. Now, she writes about five key moments she saw during the trial. You can read it here: Updated at 7.40am CEST 7.23am CEST 07:23 Victoria police has released a statement relation to the guilty verdict. It reads: Victoria Police acknowledges the decision of the jury today. Our thoughts are with the respective families at this time and we acknowledge how difficult these past two years have been for them. We will continue to support them in every way possible following this decision. We would also like to acknowledge the work of homicide squad detectives over the course of this complex investigation, as well as the significant support received from a number of other areas across Victoria Police. The Patterson and Wilkinson families would not be supplying a statement via Victoria police and have asked for privacy, the police said. Updated at 7.28am CEST 7.08am CEST 07:08 's barrister, Colin Mandy SC, left the court without making comment. Det Leading Sen Const Stephen Eppingstall, the informant or officer in charge of the investigation, also left now without commenting. Police have also left but have said they will return to make a brief statement to media in about an hour. Updated at 7.21am CEST 7.04am CEST 07:04 Benita Kolovos As we wait for the prosecutor, Nanette Rogers SC, and Patterson's barrister, Colin Mandy SC, to leave the court, I'm reflecting on the moment we heard the verdict. Justice Christopher Beale had asked everyone in the court to remain quiet throughout the short hearing but he didn't really have to – you could hear a pin drop in courtroom four. Media, members of the public and a sole friend of Patterson's all sat in silence as the charges were individually read. After each, the jury's foreperson said guilty. Patterson, who was seated at the back of the court, stared at the jury. The public gallery all turned her heads to see how she would respond. She was expressionless. After weeks of evidence, dozens of witnesses, days of deliberations, it was all over within a few minutes. Updated at 7.20am CEST 6.56am CEST 06:56 We are waiting to see if 's legal team addresses the large media presence outside. Earlier, a spokesperson for the Patterson family left court without giving a statement. Updated at 7.07am CEST 6.47am CEST 06:47 Sentencing hearing to come We don't yet have a sentencing date, but that will be the next step in the process. There will be a sentencing hearing, with submissions and arguments from the prosecution and defence about what they think the sentence should be. Updated at 6.49am CEST 6.46am CEST 06:46 Patterson's friend says she is 'saddened' by verdict One of Patterson's friends was surrounded by media as she left the court. She did not say much as reporters chased her to her car, but did tell them she was 'saddened' by the verdict: I'm saddened. It is what it is. She said Patterson had told her she would 'see her soon' before she left the court. I'm her friend. I will visit her. Updated at 6.50am CEST 6.40am CEST 06:40 Benita Kolovos Patterson speaks to lawyers privately as hearing concludes No members of the Patterson or Wilkinson families attended court for the verdict. The gallery has been asked to leave the court so Patterson can speak to her lawyers privately, which concludes today's hearing. I've headed outside to a huge press pack of journalists from across Australia and the world. A friend of Patterson's has left the court in tears. She says she is upset by the verdict. Updated at 6.43am CEST 6.38am CEST 06:38 After a trial lasting more than two months, has been found guilty on four charges. For a full recap of the verdict, you can read this piece from my colleagues Nino Bucci and Adeshola Ore: Follow along as our coverage continues. Updated at 6.39am CEST 6.25am CEST 06:25 The jury has now been discharged. Our reporter Benita Kolovos is in the court and says was stoic as the charges were read. There were no tears. Updated at 6.41am CEST 6.24am CEST 06:24 Benita Kolovos As the verdict was read out, Patterson did not drop her gaze from the jury. She looked ahead calmly. Updated at 6.24am CEST 6.21am CEST 06:21 The jury has found caused the death of her lunch guests. On the three charges of murder she has been found guilty. On the charge of attempted murder she has also been found guilty. Updated at 6.24am CEST 6.17am CEST 06:17 Benita Kolovos Patterson has arrived in court for the verdict. She's currently speaking to her lawyers, led by Colin Mandy SC, before court begins any minute. Patterson is wearing a black blouse with a paisley print and has worn her hair out and straight. She appears calm. Patterson, flanked by two security guards, now has her eyes closed and is taking deep breaths as we await the arrival of Justice Christopher Beale. Updated at 6.28am CEST 6.04am CEST 06:04 Benita Kolovos Lunchtime rush at Morwell court I'm at Latrobe Valley law courts in Morwell, where the jury are have indicated they've reached their verdict after seven days of deliberations in the triple murder trial of . The court was on a lunch break when the jury made their decision. Many of the dozens of journalists who have been camped in Morwell for the entire 11-week trial were out for lunch, sparking a literal dash through the city to get back to court. Now, we're all waiting outside court room 4 to get one of the limited seats inside to watch the verdict. Members of the public are also queueing up, with some having left their handbags out the front of the court to save their place in the line. I'll continue to provide updates throughout the afternoon. Updated at 6.17am CEST 6.04am CEST 06:04 The court is expected to reconvene at 2.15 and we will bring you updates as we have them. , 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha, in regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023. She is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and her estranged husband's aunt, Heather Wilkinson. The attempted murder charge relates to Heather's husband, Ian. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests with 'murderous intent', but her lawyers say the poisoning was a tragic accident. 5.42am CEST 05:42 Welcome to our live blog of 's triple murder trial. The jury has indicated it has reached verdicts in the case of the mushroom lunch cook. The court is expected to reconvene shortly. We'll bring you live updates. Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha, in regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Independent
18 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.'
