A socialite who has advocated against domestic violence has been accused of assaulting her younger Greek ex-boyfriend and allegedly threatening to break his legs.
He Daily Telegraph reported that Sydney socialite and interior designer Janelle ‘Nellie’ Tilley, 58, is accused of assaulting her ex-boyfriend Paris Saint, 34, during their turbulent four-year relationship.
The police fact sheet indicates the couple met in 2019 while Tilley was on vacation on the Greek islands.
Saint returned to Australia with her and moved into her home in Bellevue Hill, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
During the Covid pandemic, Saint was forced to return to Greece and their relationship was rekindled after his return to Australia in 2022.
After the couple’s relationship ended in March, Saint went to police claiming she had been an ongoing victim of domestic violence.
The mother-of-three, who now uses her maiden name Janelle Foster, allegedly told Mr Saint she would “have someone break his legs” if he went to the police.
Police allege that after returning from a holiday in Byron Bay in 2023, Tilley allegedly accused Saint of having an affair.
Janelle Tilley, 58, is accused of assaulting her ex-boyfriend Paris Saint, 34, and allegedly threatened to break her legs. The former couple appears together in happier times
Tilley allegedly punched his partner in the face and scratched his neck until blood was visible.
On another occasion, he allegedly spat at Mr Saint while the couple allegedly argued in their car after a Valentine’s Day date at a Woollahra restaurant.
Tilley has pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and is scheduled to be heard in March next year.
Under the conditions of a court-imposed interim restrained violence order, Tilley must not assault, stalk, threaten or harass Mr Saint.
Tilley’s attorney said his client would defend the allegations.
In 2018, Tilley tearfully told a court about the night her ex-boyfriend, pub magnate Phillip De Angelis, threw a lighter at her head, leaving her bloodied and crying on the floor.
In another incident, he punched Tilley in the mouth and on another occasion banged on a bathroom door in an attempt to catch her after she discovered a sex tape with another woman on his phone.
Janelle Tilley (pictured) has pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, with a hearing scheduled for March next year.
In 2019, Tilley’s former partner, pub baron Phillip De Angelis, was sentenced to an 18-month intensive corrections order for assaulting Tilley. The former couple in the photo.
“Seeing his enraged face is something I will never forget,” Tilley told the court in a harrowing victim impact statement, Tilley told the court at the time.
“I can never express how terrifying that is,” he said at the time.
He spoke of “unwanted violence” that was “unpredictable, rapid and terrifying.”
Tilley told the court that what he experienced would teach his sons the importance of being “respectful, honorable and courteous to women.”
“Never intimidate, intimidate or threaten people,” he said.
At the time, then-New South Wales Attorney-General Mark Speakman paid tribute to Tilley for speaking out against domestic violence.
“I applaud Ms. Tilley’s bravery in holding her attacker accountable for his atrocious actions and her commitment to standing up for other victims of domestic and family violence,” he said.
De Angelis pleaded guilty to five charges related to domestic violence and He was sentenced to an 18-month intensive corrections order which ended in September 2019.
Tilley was previously married to Simon Tilley, the brother of James Packer’s former confidant Ben Tilley.