Stephanie Marika Kotzadimitriou pleads guilty to perjury, says she lied to a judge to save dream of becoming a doctor

This woman claims home-invading bikies forced her to become a drug dealer – but says that’s not why she lied, twice, to the judge sentencing her.

Stephanie Marika Kotzadimitriou, centre, and her lawyer outside the District Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz.

A woman who claimed home-invading bikies forced her to become a drug dealer has told a court she lied under oath, twice, to a judge to save her dream of becoming a doctor.

On Tuesday, Stephanie Marika Kotzadimitriou apologised to the District Court for her perjury – which convinced a judge to spare her a prison term for drug offending.

In November 2018, Kotzadimitriou, 33, of Paralowie, took to the witness box and gave sworn evidence ahead of her sentencing for three counts of trafficking in a controlled drug.

She claimed her then-boyfriend had accrued a $20,000 drug debt with an unnamed bikie gang, members of which invaded their home and held them hostage.

Kotzadimitriou says she lived “under a cloud of fear” due to outlaw bikie intimidation. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz.

Kotzadimitriou said she was forced to work as a drug mule, leaving packages of methylamphetamine under bins, after her then-boyfriend fled interstate to save himself.

The bikies, she claimed, also forced her to sign a statutory declaration blaming one of their speeding fines on her former boyfriend.

In both her evidence and a written declaration, Kotzadimitriou falsely claimed she had already completed her nursing studies and had begun a degree in medicine.

Deeming that to be evidence of rehabilitation, the court suspended Kotzadimitriou’s 26-month prison term on condition of a three-year good-behaviour bond.

SA Police subsequently discovered her deception and rearrested her – after which she pleaded guilty to one count of perjury and one count of breaching her bond.

Kotzadimitriou, prosecutors allege, successfully avoided a hefty prison sentence thanks to her lies. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz.

On Tuesday, prosecutor James Slocombe said Kotzadimitriou’s deliberate, intentional lies had earned her undeserved leniency.

“This is a grave example of perjury … she gave evidence before a judge in order to influence and dissuade that judge’s ultimate determination of sentence,” he said.

Julienne Dewar, for Kotzadimitriou, said her client had lived beneath “a cloud of fear” due to bikie intimidation, prompting her to commit crimes “under duress”.

She insisted Kotzadimitriou had not lied to escape prison, only to safeguard her educational and life goals.

“She was in the mindset of ‘this is not fair, this is not something I would have done’ and couldn’t understand why her voice was not being heard by the court,” she said.

“She felt she was going to lose the dream she had – to finish studying nursing and move into medicine – and she was desperate for that dream to continue.”

Judge Paul Cuthbertson remanded Kotzadimitriou on continuing bail for sentencing next month.