Disgraced footballer WAG Arabella Del Busso has been criticized for grossly exaggerating her account of her alleged prison hell, and prison authorities have issued a public denial of her disturbing claims about how she has been treated behind bars.
The former reality TV star claimed in court documents that she was threatened with a knife by another inmate, is regularly robbed by inmates, and has endured multiple invasive strip searches by prison guards.
Del Busso also detailed several humiliations she had been subjected to behind bars, including how she had to shower, change and go to the bathroom in front of other prisoners.
But Del Busso, who was once exposed for faking pregnancies with former NRL star Josh Reynolds, appears to have exaggerated her account of prison life.
The governor of Australia’s largest women’s prison, Dillwynia Correctional Centre, read the WhatsNew2Day Australia report and objected to Del Busso’s description of prison practices.
A NSW Corrective Services source said Del Busso’s graphic description of having to “spread his buttocks” during a strip search was not true.
And although strip searches are conducted after inmate visits, they don’t go that far.
Arabella Del Busso has angered prison authorities with wild claims about strip searches behind bars.
Del Busso had also claimed in court documents that an inmate had threatened her with a jail-made knife or “stab” and had “stood up” and stolen her food.
However, the jail has not received any reports or complaints about such activity.
In a sternly worded denial issued through the prison’s media unit, the jail also said Del Busso’s claims that he routinely had to shower or use the bathroom in front of other inmates were false.
The statement said: ‘New South Wales Correctional Services regularly conducts searches of inmates to protect the safety of the prison community.
‘There are strict protocols around strip searches and female inmates are always searched by female prison officers.
‘The inmate’s claims that he showered in front of inmates are not objective. Dillwynia Correctional Center has individual shower cubicles for inmates.
‘Inmates do not use the toilet in the presence of anyone else, except during urinalysis, and those sharing a two-person cell may use an in-cell toilet after overnight confinement.
‘CSNSW has formal processes for inmates to raise concerns. CSNSW will consider the issues raised by the inmate.
The 34-year-old convicted thief spent three weeks in Silverwater women’s prison (above) before being transferred to Dillwynia, where she claimed she had been threatened with a prison-made knife.
Del Busso’s prison sentence for stealing $52,350 from his employer at a medical company was reduced from 12 months to five months at a court hearing last week.
However, District Court Judge John Pickering rejected his request for immediate release following a correctional order to be served in the community.
Del Busso was working as a receptionist at Rheumotology Specialist Care at its practices in Kogarah, in Sydney’s south, and Randwick, in the city’s east, between 2019 and 2020 at the time of the crimes.
Court facts say Del Busso told customers the EFTPOS machine was not working and asked them to pay in cash, then deposited the money into his own accounts.
In court, Judge Pickering rejected Del Busso’s claims that he had suffered “extracurial punishment” due to excessive media coverage of his case.
“To be honest, she has pursued him,” Judge Pickering said. ‘She got into a reality show. She appeared on national television.
“No one forced her to join the SAS.
“He participated in an interview with 60 Minutes, chose to go on a reality show and sought a public profile.”
His Honor also said the glowing character references submitted to his court had “some unrealistic air from people indicating that they were so shocked by aspects of his dishonesty in this matter”.
“There were also aspects of dishonesty in the Josh Reynolds matter.”
When Del Busso appeared on the SAS TV show in 2020, he stunned viewers by attempting to downplay fake pregnancies and miscarriages to the NRL player and calling his actions a “little white lie”.
The former WAG footballer also described the humiliation of having to share a cell with another inmate in whose company she has to undress, shower and go to the bathroom.
Del Busso told the show in an on-camera piece: “I’ve told a lie, but you know, the way I see it, a little white lie here or there isn’t going to hurt anyone.”
‘I’m sure we all do. I’m not the only person in all of Australia who has told a white lie here or there.
YOUR PRISON LETTER
In his handwritten letter to the court, Del Busso spoke of an alarming encounter with a fellow inmate.
She said: “They threatened to stab me with a whip.” [sic]. This is a reference to a ‘shiv’, prison slang for a knife or metal or plastic blade made in prison.
He also described the weekly strip searches as “traumatizing”.
“The strip searches… have not only been traumatizing but have made me feel violated by having to take off my clothes in front of two officers,” Del Busso wrote.
‘One stands in front of you and another stands behind you, then you must lift your bra and show your breasts.
“Next, pull your underwear down to your knees or take them off completely, bend over, spread your buttocks, and lift one foot at a time.”
Arabella Del Busso shocked SAS Australia viewers when she described former NRL star Josh Reynolds’ fake pregnancies (the couple together, above) as just a “little white lie”.
She had spent three and a half weeks in the harsh women’s prison, Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre, where, she said, she had a “very trusted role” as a street sweeper.
But her comfortable life in that prison ended with her transfer to Dillwynia, where she said she now feels “uncomfortable” performing private acts in front of other inmates.
“In such a small space, it not only made me feel uncomfortable having to shower, use the bathroom, and undress and dress in front of them,” she wrote.
Del Busso told a friend and a forensic psychologist that “inmates stole her food” and that they regularly “stop her for shopping (and) if she doesn’t comply, they threaten her with violence.”
She said that since she was locked up eight weeks ago she has endured the degrading reality of sharing a small cell with other female offenders.
“It has made me feel insecure, since being a high-profile status, inmates know or find out who I am.”