Mum-beheader’s ‘excruciating’ prison attack

Jessica Camilleri is serving a 16-year jail sentence for brutally killing her mother inside their shared western Sydney home in 2019.

The 29-year-old was found guilty of manslaughter over the bloody attack, in which she stabbed her mother at least 100 times, carved up her face and decapitated her with a flurry of blows.

She was sentenced to spend nearly two decades behind bars at Silverwater Prison, where she subsequently attacked and wounded two corrective services officers.

Camilleri appeared in the NSW District Court on Friday after admitting to two counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer and inflicting actual bodily harm in late 2021.

She had her dark hair pulled into a round bun on one side of her head and appeared impassive as her victims described the impact of her unprovoked attacks.

In August 2021, prison guards were leaving Camilleri’s cell when she rushed towards the door and slipped through the opening.

She was told to return to her cell and started to edge back towards the door when a correctional officer turned her head to speak to another inmate.

A video shows Camilleri reaching out and yanking a fistful of hair from the guard’s scalp before being restrained by three officers.

The victim was left with a long bald patch where her hair had been “ripped from (her) scalp”.

She sobbed hysterically as she told the court about the devastating impact of the “excruciating” attack.

“I felt lost and violated for weeks after the assault,” the woman said through tears.

“It has caused me pain and ongoing sadness and I often find myself crying at work or when by myself.”

The long-serving corrections officer told the court that she struggled with post traumatic stress disorder, hypervigilance, and heightened anxiety due to Camilleri’s assault.

“I strongly believe (the attack) will remain with me for the rest of my life,” she explained while crying.

Two days after the assault, Camilleri admitted she had pulled the officer’s hair but said she thought it was “just a few strands”.

“I don’t like (her),” she told police.

“I just wanted to give (her) a little bit of the taste of (her) own medicine for the sh*t they’ve been doing to me … since I’ve been here.”

Less than two months later, the 29-year-old attacked a second female prison guard in a similar manner while out in the yard.

While officers were trying to take her back to her cell, body-worn video footage showed her grabbing a chunk of the guard’s hair and forcefully pulling it.

The woman screamed out in pain, but Camilleri did not let go until she was restrained by a third officer.

The prison officer lost a “significant amount” of her hair during the “detrimental” attack, which left two bald patches on her scalp.

“The consequences of this assault have had lasting and profound effects on my life,” the guard told the court on Friday.

“It has shattered my sense of safety.”

The longtime prison guard said she had endured anxiety, depressive episodes, PTSD and terrifying nightmares as a result of the attack.

“I truly believe the price I paid for this incident was the deterioration of my mental health,” she told the court in a powerful address.

The victim said Camilleri had developed a “noticeable pattern of behaviour” in attacking guards and called for better protection for officers.

“Correctional officers are not punching bags,” she said.

Both officers said they had suffered ongoing physical pain and psychological trauma as a result of the attacks.

Although she appeared to be momentarily distressed at the beginning of the hearing, Camilleri did not react when her victims elaborated on the pain she caused them.

The court was told she had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, PTSD, and an intellectual disability.

The 29-year-old told her psychologist that “she felt she was being tortured” and she believed she was going to die in Silverwater Prison, the court was told.

Her doctor noted the inmate had a “propensity for explosive acts of aggression when she loses control of her emotions”.

Camelleri’s lawyer Nathan Steel characterised the attacks as “fairly spontaneous” but accepted that “she was aware of the wrongfulness of her actions on both occasions.”

Crown prosecutor Fiona Jowett argued that Camilleri had shown “little to no remorse” for the vicious attacks on the two women.

“The history of her assaults, hair pulling, and obviously worse … should cause the court some concern,” she warned.

Judge Sarah Huggett will deliver Camilleri’s sentence next month.

She has been moved to a different correctional facility as she serves her sentence of at least 12 years for beheading her mother and cutting out her tongue and eyeballs.

Originally published as Inside mum killer Jessica Camilleri’s ‘excruciating’ prison attack