Stolen bank cards: Iris Rameka accused of stealing in Preston

A mother-of-two has been accused of stealing a bank card from a car in Preston before being allegedly caught on CCTV buying Hungry Jacks.

Rameka has been accused of using bank cards she stole from a car in Preston.

An unemployed mother-of-two has been accused of stealing a car and bank cards to sustain her drug addiction, a court has heard.

Police allegedly found cannabis and more than 15 IDs in different names in Iris Rameka’s purse when they arrested her at her Preston home, Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court has heard.

The 36-year-old applied for bail before the court on Tuesday, March 31, having been locked up for 75 days since her arrest.

Iris Rameka has been granted bail.

Iris Rameka has been accused of theft.

The court heard Rameka and her partner were arrested on January 17 when police raided their Preston home to search for a stolen car.

Police allegedly found a stolen light blue Toyota Corolla at the property.

Rameka was arrested on warrants, having allegedly missed two court dates that month, but was also found to allegedly have cannabis and a series of IDs belonging to other people.

Prosecutor First Constable Irwin Fe told the court in the hours before she was arrested, Rameka allegedly stole a man’s wallet from a Holden parked in Wood St, Preston.

First Constable Fe said she was then seen on CCTV allegedly using one of the bank cards from the wallet to spend $136.35 at a United petrol station across three transactions and $46.50 at Hungry Jacks.

He said two of the other IDs found in her purse were also tracked as having been allegedly stolen from cars.

The court heard Rameka allegedly skipped two court dates in January after she was allegedly forensically linked to the theft of a motor vehicle in October and after police allegedly found a small bottle of GHB in her car when she was pulled over in Preston on November 20.

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Rameka’s lawyer, Ms Cooper, told the court Rameka needed dental care she couldn’t get in custody, and was particularly vulnerable in jail as an Aboriginal woman during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Magistrate Meagan Keogh agreed, and noted Rameka had completed a number of drug and alcohol courses in prison.

She was bailed but banned from seeing her partner, who was alleged to be her co-accused.