A woman has acknowledged serving magic mushrooms at a spiritual gathering where a participant died, leaving court without a conviction for drug trafficking on record.
Spiritual healer Deanne Mathews, aged 53, was fined AUD 3,000 after pleading guilty to the single charge at Bacchus Marsh Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
She was charged with trafficking psilocybin as police claimed she provided magic mushrooms to attendees who paid AUD 500 to join a retreat with Mathews in Clunes, near Ballarat.
On April 13, 2024, Mathews prepared the mushrooms in a white bowl on a set of scales, as Senior Constable Kerrie-Ann Moroney informed the court.
Mathews ground the mushrooms and added them to hot water, offering each participant a bowl of the resulting tea during two sessions, as part of a healing ceremony.
“Every person’s consumption of the tea was completely voluntary; there was no pressure to try it,” Moroney commented.
Rachael Dixon, one of the participants, died during the retreat.
However, police did not find any evidence linking Mathews to Dixon’s death; hence, she was charged only with drug trafficking.
Mathews’ defense attorney, Jon Ross, requested that his client not face a criminal record for this offense.
He argued that Mathews was deeply affected by Dixon’s death and had ceased using magic mushrooms in her practice following the incident.
“This is something Ms. Mathews will carry with her for the remainder of her life,” Ross stated.
“And it’s Ms. Mathews who called emergency services, who performed CPR on Ms. Dixon, and ultimately was with her in her last moments.”
Ross maintained that there was “no evidence of a direct link” between Mathews’ event and Dixon’s death, which is reflected in the charge by the police.
Ross added that Mathews has used psilocybin in her healing practice to address her own and others’ trauma, which has become her passion.
Magistrate Julia Barling decided against a criminal conviction for Mathews, giving her a fine instead.
Barling acknowledged that events of this nature are becoming more common and fined Mathews AUD 3,000 to send a message to the community about the illegality of such actions.
Mathews left the court without any further legal restrictions.
