Disgraced former footballer Arabella Del Busso escaped from prison under cover of darkness to flee to a new state and return to the arms of her tattooed lover.
Del Busso fled the Dillwynia Women’s Correctional Centre in Sydney’s west just after 5am on Friday.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal the convicted former reality TV star has left New South Wales to start a new life with her builder boyfriend in Melbourne.
Del Busso, 34, walked free from Australia’s largest women’s prison after serving just five months for stealing money from her employer while working as a receptionist.
The heavily tattooed former lingerie model then flew to Victoria where she plans to take up residence at the home of construction company owner James Warwick.
Del Busso, who rose to notoriety as the woman who faked pregnancies while dating someone former National Rehabilitation League Star Josh Reynolds has no more restrictions or parole hanging over his head.
A judge ruled it was impractical to grant him a community service order in New South Wales when he moved to Victoria.
Disgraced former footballer Arabella Del Busso (pictured in 2022) slipped out of a western Sydney women’s prison after 5am on Friday to flee the state and return to the arms of her new tattooed lover.
Her new boyfriend, Mr Warwick, known as “Wazza” to his friends, has been patiently awaiting Del Busso’s release and has promised to love and protect her when she is released.
After Judge John Pickering decided to reduce Del Busso’s maximum 20-month prison sentence to five months, the convicted robber and her lover began planning their new lives south of the border.
The couple have been dating for 20 months, though since Del Busso was jailed in February, the romance has been kept alive through phone calls and interstate prison visits.
Del Busso, 34, began dating Warwick when she was already facing charges of stealing $52,350 from a small Sydney medical practice between September 2019 and February 2020.
While working as a receptionist at Rheumatology Specialist Care, she hatched a scheme to steal tens of thousands of dollars from its practices in Kogarah and Randwick in Sydney’s south.
By then she was already famous for her fake pregnancies, giving a paid interview to 60 Minutes about them and how SAS Australia fleeing the TV show in tears.
Del Busso eventually pleaded guilty to two charges and was jailed.
Mr Warwick has been travelling to another state to visit Del Busso every fortnight and spending $220 on Uber rides to the sprawling Dillwynia women’s prison, 55km north-west of Sydney.
In a letter of support for his girlfriend’s release, Mr Warwick described her as “kind, understanding and caring”.
The builder, who is in his 30s and from Melbourne’s north-east, said in a court affidavit: “I feel people don’t know the real Arabella Del Busso.”
‘The Bella I’ve come to love is the most caring, genuine, down-to-earth, selfless person I’ve ever met from a relationship perspective.
Del Busso has a new boyfriend who has promised to support her after her sentence ends
Melbourne builder James Warwick, who like Del Busso is heavily tattooed, planned a new life with the former lingerie model and has been travelling to other states to visit her in prison.
“Bella loves the home we have created in Melbourne. It is a safe place where she can be herself and focus on enjoying the wonderful things life has to offer with our family and our dogs.”
The former Australian player said Del Busso had been “mentally impacted” by her relationship with Reynolds.
“She’s talked to me about how difficult that time in her life was… with who she was as a person being openly torn apart,” Warwick added.
‘I know from the conversations we shared about her traumatic experiences inside that she is suffering.’
Warwick, a former amateur soccer player for the 2014 championship-winning Northern Blues, said that since her arrest, “I worry every day that she’s in jail.”
‘His experiences in prison may have taken their toll on him and he will need time and help to overcome them.
“I will do everything I can to ensure she is safe and protected when she leaves and eventually returns home to Melbourne.”
Warwick wiped away tears as he sat at the back of Downing Centre District Court in April and watched Del Busso on screen from the AVL booth in Dillwynia, where she claimed she had been threatened and humiliated.
Del Busso appealed against the severity of his 20-month prison sentence, asking for a community order that would allow him to walk free from jail.
During her time in prison, Del Busso said she was threatened with a knife and subjected to “invasive” body searches. However, prison authorities issued a statement refuting her claims.
But New South Wales District Court Judge John Pickering lashed out at Del Busso’s lawyer, Jehane Ghabrial, when she tried to argue “extra punishment” or trial by the media as a mitigating factor.
“To be honest, she has tried. She has entered a reality show and a national television show,” she said.
“No one forced her to participate in the SAS Australia reality show.”
