The woman who supplied the magic mushrooms at last year’s fatal healing event at Soul Barn in Clunes, has avoided jail time after appearing before the Bacchus Marsh Magistrates Court.

Diane Mathews, 54, faced the Bacchus Marsh Magistrates’ Court last Wednesday to plead guilty to a single charge of drug trafficking in relation to last April’s incident in which a Melbourne woman died.

The drug in question, psilocybin, had been ingested as a tea by 10 participants attending a “healing ceremony” being hosted by Mathews in Clunes on April 13, 2024.

It emerged that Mathews had rented the space at Clunes’ Soul Barn venue, for the event and charged participants to attend.

Among the participants was 53-year-old Melbourne mother Rachael Dixon, who died from cardiac arrest after ingesting the substance.

The mushrooms had been ground up and brewed into tea, with bowls seized by police at the site containing traces of the hallucinogenic compound.

The court heard Mathews had long practiced alternative healing practices and her lawyer, Jon Ross, asserted that psilocybin had a medical application despite being illegal, and compared the compound to cannabis, which has been legalised for medicinal use in Victoria.

Mr Ross, said police were unable to establish a “causal link” between Mathews’ supplying of the mushroom and Ms Dixon’s death.

He also said Mathews had performed CPR on the 53-year-old mother before she died and was was “haunted” by her death.

Magistrate Julia Barling said Matthews’ early plea of guilty and lack of criminal history had worked in her favour.

“To come before the court with your first offence being a charge of trafficking a drug of dependence is a very serious manner in which to enter the justice system,” Magistrate Barling said.

“Trafficking charges are always taken very seriously by the court.”

Mathews was given a $3000 fine without conviction.

A woman from Mount Macedon has been charged with drug trafficking in recent days, following a police investigation into a death at a retreat that was held in Clunes last April. 

No charges have been laid in relation to the death itself, however police say that during an investigation they found evidence the 53 year old Mount Macedon woman was trafficking drugs.

The investigation was launched after a Ringwood woman died on April 14, last year while at the retreat.

A Victoria Police statement said an autopsy had been conducted, but a cause of death was unable to be determined.

It also stated the Mount Macedon woman has been charged with trafficking psilocin, a hallucinogen found in psychedelic or “magic” mushrooms.

She will now be required to face the Bacchus Marsh Magistrates’ Court on January 29.

Following the Ringwood woman’s death last April, Soul Barn, the Clunes venue where the retreat took place, had distanced themselves from the private event.

In a social media post, the Soul Barn stated that it hired out its workshop space to external businesses, and that no one who had been working at the retreat was associated with Soul Barn.

“There are no words to express the deep sorrow and shock we are feeling here at Soul following the tragic incident that occurred,” the post had stated.

It had also stated: “We share the shock and devastation of everyone involved and our hearts are with those families affected.”

This story based on a Victoria Police report

Crime Investigation Unit detectives are investigating the circumstances following the death of a woman in Clunes, Sunday, 14 April.

“It is believed a woman was at a retreat on Fraser Street when she became ill after ingesting a drink just after 12am,” police said in a statement.

“The 53-year-old Ringwood North woman died at the scene.”

An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson has  confirmed that  two other people were taken to the Ballarat Base Hospital.