At Patterson’s sentencing last year, Judge Christopher Beale spoke of the “enormous betrayal of trust” involved in the murders.
“Your victims were all your relatives by marriage. More than that, they had all been good to you and your children over many years, as you acknowledged in your testimony,” he said.
A court sketch of Erin Patterson. Anita Lester
“Not only did you cut short three lives and cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson’s health, thereby devastating the extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your own children whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents.“
Beale ultimately concluded that Patterson’s offences were in the “very worst category” of murder.