Accused parent poisoner Raelene Polymiadis rushed to hospital after collapsing in court cells
Alleged parent murderer Raelene Polymiadis has been rushed to hospital after a dramatic court cell collapse – and was forced to wait an hour for an ambulance.
Police & Courts
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A woman who allegedly murdered both of her parents with insulin has been rushed to hospital – handcuffed and chained – after suffering a diabetic episode, collapsing in the Supreme Court cells and waiting an hour for an ambulance.
Accused poison murderer Raelene Polymiadis collapsed in the cells at 3.20pm on Tuesday more than an hour after an ambulance was first called.
Staff in the Sir Samuel Way Building’s cells could be heard, from the court’s public area, yelling: “Raelene, can you hear me?”
Ms Polymiadis’ collapse came as the court was due to hear her urgent application for home detention bail on the grounds prison authorities are mismanaging her health needs.
The Advertiser can reveal that, just minutes before the hearing, she informed cell staff and her lawyers that she felt unwell.
It is understood Mrs Polymiadis felt faint and was unable to properly communicate.
It was then suspected she was suffering from high blood pressure arising from her diabetes.
SA Ambulance staff were called to the Sir Samuel Way Building to attend upon Mrs Polymiadis in the cells but she collapsed before they arrived.
An SA ambulance crew arrived at 3.36pm, and, at 3.50pm, made the decision to transfer her to the RAH for treatment.
Still wearing the same clothes in which she was arrested, Mrs Polymiadis was brought out of court on a stretcher with her face covered by a blanket.
She was handcuffed to the stretcher by her left wrist, and chained to it by her right leg.
Ambulance officers, accompanied by Sheriff’s officers, then conveyed her to the RAH.
The Advertiser understands her condition to have stabilised.
The Advertiser further understands Mrs Polymiadis was brought to the court, from the Adelaide Women’s Prison, without any equipment to test her blood glucose levels.
It also understands that Mrs Polymiadis did eat a meal before she was transferred to court.
Mrs Polymiadis, 62, of Craigmore, has yet to plead to two counts of murder over the deaths of her parents, Brenda and Lynton Anderson, in 2022 and 2023.
Prosecutors have alleged she administered insulin to them both, when neither was diabetic, resulting in their deaths – and tried to portray her father’s death as suicide.
Other allegations aired in court, including Mrs Polymiadis’ purported motive, are the subject of multiple suppression orders.
Since her arrest, Mrs Polymiadis has claimed her diabetes has been mistreated by prison health authorities, leading to medical episodes with potentially fatal consequences.
On Tuesday, prior to the ambulance’s arrival, Mrs Polymiadis’ barrister asked the bail hearing continue in her client’s absence.
Justice Julie McIntyre agreed.
The court heard evidence from the acting manager of Prison Health Services, Adam Spicer, who defended the group’s treatment of Mrs Polymiadis.
Mr Spicer denied she had been mismanaged, and also said he was “not surprised” by her sudden hospitalisation – but only because he “heard an ambulance had been called”.
He also denied Mrs Polymiadis’ repeated claim prison staff had been dealing with her as a type 2 diabetic despite her type 1 diagnosis.
He said the prison had offered to move Mrs Polymiadis to a unit where she could prepare her own meals, but she had declined.
Ms Shaw suggested “we would not be having this crisis today” if her client’s health had been properly managed.
She said Mrs Polymiadis had been recorded, on a prison phone call on Monday night, saying her blood sugar was “still high”.
“She said ‘it’s dangerously high, it doesn’t seem to be getting any better, it’s off the Richter scale’,” she said.
Mr Spicer said those details “weren’t correct”.
“Her blood sugar, when it was checked, was not off the Richter scale … I believe it was 18,” he said.
Justice McIntyre will hear final submissions and make her decision on Friday.
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