Unlike the young lovers ensconced in a ninth-floor apartment, Luke Patterson, respected general practitioner and founding member of Citizen’s Voice, rejected the truth in favour of a well-rehearsed statement for his performance within the windowless cube of Frankston Magistrates Court. His words weren’t pure invention, more a distortion of fact, with the doctor stressing that it was his desire to help those of his elderly patients struggling to manage soaring living costs that had led him to seek assistance from his close friend, Callum, of Ritchie Brothers Markets. ‘Initially, I asked Callum if I could purchase a quantity of unperishable foodstuffs such as tinned legumes,’ Luke told the court. ‘I wanted to have stocks on hand, as I planned to keep a box of tins behind the reception counte
