Sydney socialite and domestic violence campaigner 58, accused of assaulting her ex-partner, 34, and making chilling threat
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.
The 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.
According to the police fact sheet, the pair met in 2019 while Tilley was on holiday in the Greek islands.
Mr Saint returned to Australia with her and moved to her home in Bellevue Hill in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
During the Covid pandemic, Mr Saint was forced to return to Greece and their relationship was rekindled after he returned to Australia in 2022.
After the couple’s relationship ended in March, Mr Saint went to the police, claiming he was a constant victim of domestic violence.
The mother-of-three, who now uses her maiden name Janelle Foster, allegedly told Saint she would “break someone’s legs” if he went to the police.
Police allege that after returning from a holiday in Byron Bay in 2023, Tilley accused Mr Saint of having an affair.
Janelle Tilley, 58, is accused of assaulting her ex-boyfriend Paris Saint, 34, and allegedly threatening to break his legs. The ex-couple are depicted together in happier times
Tilley allegedly punched her partner in the face and scratched his neck until blood was visible.
On another occasion she allegedly spat on Mr Saint as the couple 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 the hearing is scheduled for March next year.
Under the terms of a temporary violence order imposed by the court, Tilley is prohibited from assaulting, stalking, threatening or harassing Mr. Saint.
Tilley’s attorney said their client would defend the allegations.
In 2018, Tilley tearfully told a court about the night her ex-boyfriend Phillip De Angelis, pub baron, threw a cigarette 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 he punched a bathroom door in an attempt to get 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 the hearing scheduled for March next year
In 2019, Tilley’s ex-partner pub baron Phillip De Angelis was sentenced to an 18-month intensive corrections order for assaulting Tilley. The photo shows the ex-couple
“Seeing his angry face is something I will never forget,” Tilley told the court in a disturbing victim impact statement Tilley told the court at the time.
“I can never express how terrifying that is,” she said at the time.
She spoke of “unwanted violence” that was “unpredictable, rapid and terrifying.”
Mrs Tilley told the court that what she had experienced would teach her sons the importance of ‘being respectful, honorable and courteous to women’.
“To never bully, intimidate or threaten people,” she said.
At the time, then NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman paid tribute to Tilley for speaking out against domestic violence.
“I applaud Ms. Tilley’s courage in holding her attacker accountable for his abhorrent actions and her commitment to standing up for other victims of domestic and family violence,” he said.
De Angelis pleaded guilty to five domestic violence-related charges and was sentenced to an 18-month intensive correction order, which expired in September 2019.
Tilley was previously married to Simon Tilley, brother of James Packer’s former confidant Ben Tilley.