Jessica Camilleri who decapitated mother to appeal severity of her 21-year jail sentence

A woman who was jailed for 21 years after decapitating her mother and stabbing her head and face 100 times is set to appeal the severity of her sentence.  

Jessica Camilleri was found guilty of manslaughter and is being held at the Silverwater Correctional Centre in Western Sydney, after killing her mother Rita on July 19, 2019.

Camilleri used seven kitchen knives in the attack – four of which broke due to the force of the strikes –  before taking her mother’s head outside their St Clair home and placing it on the footpath.  

 Jessica Camilleri (pictured) is appealing against the severity of her 21-year jail sentence after beheading her mother in July 2019 

Camilleri used seven kitchen knives in the attack (pictured, Camilleri’s mother Rita), four of which broke due to the force of the attack

Justice Helen Wilson sentenced Camilleri to 21 years in jail in March with a non-parole period of 16 years and two months. 

The 27-year-old recently filed a notice of intention to appeal against the severity of her sentence to the NSW Supreme Court, the Daily Telegraph reported.    

Camilleri’s team has until September to file further paperwork including on what grounds they will base her appeal.

The move comes as Camilleri fronted Burwood Local Court last week claiming she has been the victim of constant bullying after she was charged with assaulting an inmate. 

Jessica Camilleri (pictured) is being held at the Silverwater Correctional Centre, in western Sydney, after killing her mother Rita on July 19, 2019 

She appeared via video link at Burwood Local Court last Thursday where she claimed she was being told to ‘watch her back’ by inmates who were making life a ‘living hell’.  

‘They single me out in prison because of the nature of my crime,’ she said.

‘No matter what I do, no matter where I go other prisoners will make my life a living hell.’   

Court documents state Camilleri, who says she suffers from bulimia, told police she believed the inmate was making fun of her eating disorder.

Jessica Camilleri took her mother’s head outside their St Clair home and placed it on a footpath (pictured: Camilleri’s mother Rita)

Camilleri approached the inmate in the recreation room and told her she was still hungry, according to the documents.

‘Who should I ask for more food?’ Camilleri said.

‘I don’t know who to ask, haven’t you had enough food already?’ The inmate said.

Camilleri believed the inmate was conspiring with others to attack her and walked behind her, pulled her by the hair and then ‘vaulted’ her, the documents state. 

She told the court life in prison was ‘hard’ and that correctional officers ‘can’t protect you.’

‘Sometimes, and I hate to say it in this courtroom, but other prisoners have been murdered by other prisoners in jail, that’s how it is in jail,’ she said.

Camilleri has since fronted court again after she was charged with assaulting an inmate at Silverwater Correctional Centre

She was found guilty of manslaughter and ordered to serve 21-years in jail where she is being monitored closely by prison officials (pictured, a crime scene was established following the incident in 2019) 

Magistrate Sharon Freund convicted Camilleri of common assault. 

During Camilleri’s trial, following the attack on her mum, the court heard the defendant had an obsession with horror films, owning eight copies of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and five of Jeepers Creepers, which she watched ‘over and over again’.

Two forensic psychiatrists had told the trial the frenzied knife attack was prompted by an intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder that features a fixation on horror films, though only one attributed the loss of control to the mixture of those conditions.

The other expert said an intermittent explosive disorder had a significant role to play.