The Victorian director of public prosecutions is appealing Erin Patterson’s sentence because a judge erred in finding she was likely to spend “years to come” in solitary confinement when allowing for the possibility of parole.

According to the notice of appeal released by the supreme court on Thursday, the DPP is appealing Patterson’s sentence of life imprisonment – due to the setting of a non-parole period of 33 years – because of findings Justice Christopher Beale made about her likely prison conditions.

Patterson was sentenced on 8 September over the murders of Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, and the attempted murder of the latter’s husband, Ian Wilkinson. The Pattersons were the parents of her estranged husband, Simon Patterson. Heather Wilkinson was Gail’s sister.

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