A disgraced former NRL WAG and reality TV contestant has walked out of jail after stealing more than $52,000 from her boss.
Arabella Del Busso emerged from Dillwynia Correctional Centre in western Sydney on Friday morning after spending the last five months behind bars.
The 34-year-old was sentenced to 20 months behind bars only a few days after her birthday in February, but the jail term was subsequently slashed to five months on appeal.
In an emotional handwritten letter tendered to the court, she complained she had been “broken” and felt “violated” by the “traumatising” experience of life in prison.
The former SAS Australia contestant claimed her quasi-celebrity status had made her a target for other inmates, who had threatened her with a shiv and “stood over” her for food.
She rose to prominence while dating former NRL star Josh Reynolds but her fame turned to infamy when she publicly admitted she had faked a miscarriage during their relationship.
In a letter penned in protective custody, Del Busso said the other inmates knew who she was because of her “high status”.
She claimed their attention made her feel “unsafe” because she was required to undress, shower, and use the toilet in front of them.
“The media attention has made it very hard for me to just be anonymous in (jail) and be left alone,” the former NRL WAG despaired in her letter.
She explained she had been deterred from sharing her concerns with prison guards after she was “threatened with being stabbed with a shive (sic).”
The former model described feeling “violated” and “traumatised” by regular strip searches at the prison, which are conducted in front of two corrective services officers.
“You are required to lift up your bra and show your breasts,” she wrote.
“Then either pull your underwear down to your knees, or completely off, bend over, spread your bum cheeks and lift one foot up at a time.”
To make matters worse, her friend said Del Busso was also regularly deprived of food by other inmates who were bullying her during her jail term.
“Arabella shared she is extremely distressed and described her experience in custody as a living nightmare which does not end,” her friend wrote in a statement tendered to the court.
The 34-year-old, who has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, said she struggled to mentally adjust to life behind bars and felt fearful every day.
“I feel broken, defeated and helpless,” she told the court in her letter.
Del Busso was working as a receptionist for Rheumatology Specialist Care at their practices in Kogarah and Randwick when she devised a scheme to steal tens of thousands of dollars.
Between September 2019 and February 2020, she netted more than $52,000 through a “pretty basic” fraud that asked clients to pay in cash instead of using the card machine.
“Unfortunately our EFTPOS facilities are down so it will be a cash transaction today of $170 sorry for the inconvenience,” she said in a text message sent out to 18 patients.
The lingerie model fleeced $35,785 from the medical centre’s Kogarah facility and $16,565 from the Randwick office over five months before a manager noticed the financial discrepancies.
The court documents show she had deposited $18,215 into her personal bank accounts.
In her letter, Del Busso said she was “deeply remorseful” for stealing from her employer.
She claimed her time in prison “deeply impacted” her and she never wanted to go through it again.
“Not only have I let myself down but I have let my loved ones, friends, and fans down,” the 34-year-old said.
During her appeal, Judge John Pickering said he was conscious “every day in jail is difficult” but Del Busso had “put herself in that position”.
He also noted she is a boxer who might have been expected to fare better than other inmates behind bars.
Despite the hardships Del Busso experienced in prison, she said she was “determined to become a better version” of herself and she had committed herself to a boxing career.
In her letter, the model said she had been training twice a day and looked forward to getting back in the ring when she completed her jail stint.
“Once my freedom is reinstated, I wish to have the ability to move forward to a positive future … and continue my boxing career where people will forgive, be inspired, and look up to myself,” she wrote.