A View from the Public Gallery: Tammy Egglestone
The Erin Patterson trial attracted worldwide attention, but something unusual happened in Morwell. People began travelling to the Latrobe Valley Law Courts simply to watch the proceedings unfold for themselves.
Among them was Tammy Egglestone, who had never attended a court hearing before the trial but went on to spend months observing the case from the public gallery.
Tammy and I met during the trial, and over the course of those long days in Courtroom Four, a friendship developed. Ours was one of many friendships formed among people who had arrived as strangers, brought together by an extraordinary set of circumstances.
Tammy recently appeared on The Mushroom Trial: Say Grace podcast, in an episode titled On Trial Australia – The Patterson Court Watchers, discussing her experience of attending the trial and what it was like to witness one of Australia's most closely followed criminal trials firsthand.
Having shared so many days in court with Tammy, I enjoyed listening to her recollections of that extraordinary time.
While we witnessed much of the same evidence and proceedings, everyone brought their own experiences, observations and reactions to the courtroom.
It's one of the reasons I believe firsthand accounts from the public gallery are worth hearing.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
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