Raelene Polymiadis back in custody over alleged bail breach

Raelene Polymiadis told police she was planning to visit a chemist at a popular suburban shopping centre. A magistrate says CCTV told a different story.

A woman accused of murdering her parents with her own insulin is back behind bars for breaching strict bail conditions.

Raelene Polymiadis, 63, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday where the court heard she had breached her bail conditions on five different occasions since December including a time where she met an unknown woman at the Ingle Farm Shopping Centre.

“She tells a lie about ‘I’m going there to the chemist’ and she doesn’t go anywhere near the chemist - there’s two of them and she doesn’t even walk in front of them,” Magistrate Benjamin Sale said.

“She shouldn’t have been there in the first place, let alone strolling around the shopping centre.

“It seems extraordinarily cavalier on her part.

Raelene Polymiadis on bail outside Adelaide Magistrates Court in December 2023. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE / Emma Brasier

“I don’t accept there’s any confusion, she’s on this bail agreement which she has in front of her..., she’s complying for a couple of months and then it seems as if familiarity breeds a little bit of contempt, she’s decided to do some things which aren’t within the bounds of her passes and this is the consequence.”

A police prosecutor said CCTV footage shows Mrs Polymiadis meeting with an unknown woman at the shopping centre before she gets into her car.

“Police do not know who the female, or the other person was that she was talking to at the shopping centre,” he said.

“When they had enquired with the defendant as to who that person is she has exercised her right to silence and not informed them.

“To suggest that person may or may not be a witness or something else, or somebody acting as a go-between can’t be denied or confirmed at this particular point in time.”

Magistrate Sale said two of the other breaches of bail included Mrs Polymiadis allegedly stopping for a short period in front of a vacant lot and a nursery on Salisbury Hwy on separate occasions.

Joseph Henderson, defence counsel for Mrs Polymiadis, said his client momentarily stopped her car on one occasion when she was having issues with her diabetes and went inside to purchase something to assist her.

“She stopped her car because she was feeling unwell and she recalls entering the address to try and purchase something like a can of coke,” he said.

Mrs Polymiadis was granted bail by Magistrate Benjamin Sale before prosecution made a swift application on behalf of the Department of Public Prosecution to review her bail agreement.

Under the Bail Act 1985, the review of the agreement will see Mrs Polymiadis remanded in custody for no longer than 72 hours before she is brought before the Supreme Court for review of her bail by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Mr Henderson also said Mrs Polymiadis has experienced some issues with her diabetes since January 5 when she was remanded in custody.

“There have been some significant difficulties in relation to the administration of her medication, in essence what my client is telling the City Watch House is her regime is being disregarded,” he said.

“About 10pm last night she was removed from the City Watch House and taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, she was there for about four or five hours and had her bloods taken and was on an intravenous drip… I’m not quite sure why, my client isn’t entirely sure either.”