St Clair killer Jessica Camilleri charged with assaulting prison officer

A western Sydney woman serving time for beheading her mother in a psychotic rage has returned to court on fresh allegations she attacked a prison officer for the third time since her incarceration.

Jessica Camilleri is serving 16 years in prison for beheading her mother during a psychotic rage. Now, she’s back before the courts for allegedly assaulting a corrections officer. Picture: Facebook

Infamous convicted killer Jessica Camilleri is facing a fresh allegation she assaulted a prison officer.

The 31-year-old was expected to returned to court on Tuesday facing one charge of common assault.

Court documents state she allegedly assaulted the officer at the Dillwynia Correctional Centre between 11.25am and 11.30am on March 13, 2025.

Camilleri is serving a 16 and a half year prison sentence after she beheaded her mother during a psychotic rage at their St Clair home in July 2019.

She was initially charged with murder, but was acquitted at trial and found guilty of manslaughter instead due to her mental health at the time.

Jessica Camilleri has been charged with allegedly assaulting a prison officer – the third allegation of its type since her incarceration for killing her mother in 2019.

The jury at the time was told Camilleri and her mother, Rita, 57, were arguing when her daughter – who had a history of refusing to take her psychiatric medication – attacked her mother with kitchen knives.

Camilleri did not face Penrith Local Court from custody on Tuesday, nor was she represented, when her latest matter was swiftly adjourned.

Jessica Camilleri allegedly attacked a correctional officer at the Dillwynia Correctional Centre in March 2025. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

She has not entered any pleas.

Details of the alleged assault were not shared in open court, and she is expected to face court again on June 3.

The fresh charge is the latest in a number of attacks from Camilleri on prison officers, after she ripped the hair out of two Silverwater prison guards in 2021 and attacked another guard at the Dillwynia Correctional Centre in Berkshire Park in 2023 in a similar way.

She was sentenced to 22 months behind bars for the 2021 attack, and 12 months behind bars for the 2023 attack with a non-parole period of nine months.