When the triple murderer wakes up on 25 December, there’ll be no Christmas tree, no gifts from loved ones, no family members to embrace and no festive meal. Instead, “Mushroom Murderer” Erin Patterson will open her eyes to see only the four walls of her bathroom-sized prison cell within the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne, where she will stay cooped up for most of the day.
It will be loud. Not from Christmas excitement, but the yelling and screaming of fellow inmates also held in solitary confinement inside Victoria’s largest women’s prison. This isn’t Patterson’s first Christmas behind bars; she has been in custody since 2023. However, it will be her first one as a convicted killer.
So what will the day be like for the notorious 51-year-old triple murderer?
Woman’s Day asked prison advocate Ashleigh Chapman to share her own experience of being locked up at the same prison. She spent 10 years there, including two years in solitary confinement. Ashleigh, who was released earlier this year, wishes to make it clear that her comments are based purely on her own time at the maximum-security facility.
She points out “conditions didn’t change” at all over the Christmas period an the morning began with the usual routine.
A day in isolation
“You wake up from the announcement, get counted, then you do your own thing, like have a shower, before going back to sleep until you hear breakfast or medication coming,” she reveals.
According to reports, Patterson spends roughly 22 hours a day in her cell due to frequent lockdowns, barely sleeping and just crocheting all night. She has a hair straightener, TV and access to a 1.5×1.5m courtyard, which she can use with permission.
Ashleigh shares, “There are no activities for people in solitary confinement. And no Christmas decorations are allowed at all.”
Christmas behind bars
As for a Christmas feast, a traditional roast dinner with all the trimmings was not on the menu for Ashleigh – and there certainly wasn’t a joyful gathering around the dinner table with fellow inmates. Instead, meals were delivered as usual through a slot in the solid steel door of the cell at around 3.30pm.
Ashleigh tells, “At Christmas, the meals are the same, just dinner is served at lunch and lunch is served at dinner. Meat, vegetable and fruit cake, which are always served in recyclable containers.”
Visitors and presents restricted
During her trial, Patterson detailed how she had converted to Christianity after meeting her ex-husband Simon Patterson. However, Ashleigh notes there were no religious services available during her incarceration. Any Christmas presents were donated.
“Gifts that were donated to the prison network are handed out and vary, though most items are removed due to being in solitary,” she tells.
As for visitors on Christmas Day, Ashleigh says they were only ever allowed under specific conditions. She explains it was permitted “if Christmas Day falls on the allocated day and only for the morning.”
In a nutshell, Ashleigh’s experience of Christmas in solitary confinement was “soul-destroying”.
She says, “You sit in your cell all day, with no human contact and doing the same thing repeatedly. Maybe if you’re lucky, you can get fresh air. However, that’s very limited.”
Patterson is currently serving life in prison for murdering her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, plus Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, as well as attempting to murder Heather’s husband Ian. She will be eligible for parole in 2056, when she is 82.
Letby’s festive fan mail
She’s serving a life sentence for the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of seven more, but former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby is living the good life behind bars, thanks to her supporters.
Despite being labelled one of Britain’s worst serial killers, Letby, 35, has reportedly been swamped with fan mail, playlists and homemade gifts. The prison has now banned her from receiving any more.
Sarah Thomas, who runs a Facebook page dedicated to freeing Letby, has been collecting cards and gifts from her followers to send to her for Christmas. Last year, more than 100 gushing messages arrived.
Now Sarah is worried she won’t be able to get them to Letby due to new restrictions. She says, “The prison officers said there was too much – so many cards and letters from people, they couldn’t let her have them all.”
A mum of two, Sarah admits she thought Letby was guilty at first.
“I followed Lucy’s case from the start,” she explains.
“But I did my own research and now I’m of the opinion she’s probably innocent.”
