Disgraced former soccer wife Arabella Del Busso has escaped from prison in the dead of night 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 after 5am on Friday.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal the convicted former reality star has left NSW to start a new life with her construction worker boyfriend in Melbourne.
Del Busso, 34, escaped 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 ex-lingerie model then jetted off to Victoria, where she plans to move in with construction company owner James Warwick.
Del Busso – who rose to fame as the woman who faked pregnancies while dating former NRL star Josh Reynolds – has no further restrictions or parole pending.
A judge decided it was not practical to impose a community service order on her when she moved to Victoria.
Disgraced former soccer wife Arabella Del Busso (pictured in 2022) sneaked out of a women’s prison in Sydney’s west after 5am on Friday to flee the state and return to the arms of her tattooed new lover
Her new boyfriend, Mr. Warwick, nicknamed “Wazza” by his mates, has been patiently awaiting Del Busso’s release and has sworn to love and protect her once she is free.
After Judge John Pickering decided to reduce Del Busso’s maximum 20-month prison sentence to five months, the convicted thief and her lover began making plans for their new life south of the border.
The couple have been dating for 20 months, but since Del Busso was locked up in February, the romance has been kept alive through phone calls and interstate prison visits.
Del Busso, 34, began dating Warwick while 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 devised a plan to steal tens of thousands of dollars from their practices in Kogarah and Randwick in Sydney’s south.
By then she was already notorious for the fake pregnancies, doing a paid interview about it on 60 Minutes and as SAS Australia running away from the tv show in tears.
Del Busso eventually pleaded guilty to two charges and was jailed.
Mr Warwick flies to Del Busso every two weeks and spends $220 on Uber rides to the vast women’s prison in Dillwynia, 55km northwest of Sydney.
In a letter expressing support for his girlfriend’s release, Warwick described her as “kind, helpful and loving.”
The builder, who is in her mid-30s and from Melbourne’s north-east, said in a statement to the court: “I feel people don’t know the real Arabella Del Busso.”
‘The Bella I have come to love is the most caring, genuine, down-to-earth, and selfless person I have ever met, from a relationship perspective.
Del Busso has a new boyfriend who has promised to support her after she serves her sentence
Melbourne builder James Warwick, who like Del Busso is heavily tattooed, planned a new life with the former lingerie model and flew interstate 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 that life has to offer with our family and our dogs.’
The former Aussie Rules player said Del Busso was “mentally affected” by her relationship with Reynolds.
“She’s talked to me about how difficult that period in her life was… where who she was as a person was being openly torn apart,” Warwick added.
“I know she is suffering, because of the conversations we have about her traumatic experiences.”
Warwick, a former amateur footballer for the Northern Blues, who won the Premier League in 2014, said she has been “worried about her prison sentence every day” since her arrest.
‘Her experiences in prison may have taken a heavy toll and she needs time and support to process them.
“I will do everything I can to ensure she is safe and protected as she goes out and eventually returns home to Melbourne.”
Warwick wiped away tears as he sat at the back of the Downing Centre court in April and watched Del Busso on screen, from the AVL booth in Dillwynia, claim she had been threatened and humiliated.
Del Busso appealed the length of her 20-month prison sentence and begged for a community service order that would free her.
During her time in prison, Del Busso claimed she was threatened with a shiv (prison knife) in jail and subjected to “invasive” searches. However, prison authorities released a statement refuting her claims
But District of New South Wales Judge John Pickering blasted Del Busso’s lawyer Jehane Ghabrial when she cited “extraordinary punishment” or a media trial as mitigating factors.
“She’s really into it, she’s pursued it. She’s put herself on a reality show. She’s put herself on national television,” he said.
“Nobody forced her to take part in (the reality show) SAS Australia.”