A man who admitted to abducting a four-month-old baby during a car heist about eight months ago has told an Adelaide magistrate he has no memory of entering guilty pleas in court because of drug use.
Ilias Sammy Latsis, 37, pleaded guilty in the Adelaide Magistrates Court to the baby abduction and car theft on the same day as his arrest in May 2022.
He admitted stealing the car and kidnapping the boy while his mother was inside a nearby shop at Klemzig.
The incident sparked a widespread manhunt for the infant, who was found safe hours later.
Latsis has applied to the court for the guilty plea to the abduction to be withdrawn because he has no memory of appearing in court and instructing his lawyer to admit to the charge.
Giving evidence, Latsis told the court he consumed methamphetamine, cannabis and an anti-anxiety medication the day of his crime spree.
He said he remembered "passing out" on a couch at a friend's house and then recalled being arrested.
"I was woken up by a STAR Group officer, I was up against the wall," he told the court.
"My first memory [after that] was the Remand Centre — I can't be 100 per cent sure."
He told the court on the second or third day at the Remand Centre, he spoke to his sister from prison and was informed he had pleaded guilty to abducting the child.
"First of all, she told me I was an idiot. She told me I had pleaded guilty to an abduction, and I laughed," he said.
"There's no memory there. It's just blank."
Latsis later told the court he remembered a video link from court and a "vague memory" of his lawyer, Stephen Ey, extending an apology to the baby's family.
"I'm not guilty of abduction. I've put my hand up for the illegal use, I stole the cars, I'm aware I stole the cars. But at no point was I aware there was a child in the vehicle," he told the court.
"I know I didn't go there to abduct, that's it, it was opportunistic [to steal the car]. After the fact, when I noticed there was a little one in the car, I panicked and parked the car and left."
Lawyers for Latsis also called drug and alcohol expert Professor Jason White to give evidence about how drug use impacts memory and cognitive function.
Professor White told the court that anyone on a cocktail of methamphetamine, cannabis and diazepam can find complex information difficult to interpret and may have bouts of memory loss, similar to alcohol.
But he admitted his evidence was general in nature as he had "limited information".
Professor White told the court he had no information about Latsis's height or weight, how much and when each drug was consumed and whether Latsis was a long-term or first-time user.
