Christopher Camilleri: Rebels bikie accused of violent assaults on wife Emily Camilleri to stand trial

A trial date has been set for a senior Rebels bikie who allegedly choked his wife until she went limp, threatened her and tried to bite her nose off. Christopher John Camilleri is accused of subjecting Emily Camilleri to a series of violent attacks in the months after their wedding in November 2021. The pair got married the same day the 39-year-old was released from prison on parole for drug offences. Last month the bikie, who is now facing a string of new charges including persistently engaging in family violence, criminal damage, assault, and impeding another person’s breathing, pleaded not guilty to the 11 offences. They are all alleged to have occurred between January and August 2022. At that hearing, Perth Magistrates Court was told that during one of the alleged violent incidents, Mr Camilleri allegedly bit down hard on his wife’s nose, after saying he would mutilate her face so that nobody else would want her. Mr Camilleri allegedly then put his hands around her throat and choked her until she blacked out and went limp while threatening to kill her. It is alleged that when she came to, the bikie handed her a phone and told her to call an ambulance herself. It was also alleged that earlier in the same incident the pair had been arguing about a rumour that his wife slept with someone else while he was in prison, resulting in him allegedly shoving a pen into her neck. “She felt pain, believing she was going to get stabbed,” the prosecutor said In another alleged attack in January last year, police allege he dragged her into the garage away from her young child and threatened to “break your arm and break your jaw”. He then allegedly headbutted Ms Camilleri while wearing his motorcycle helmet, slapped her in the face so hard she fell backwards, and then removed her glasses and stomped on them. Text messages read to the court allegedly sent by Mr Camilleri stated: “You’re a dead dog and I’ll be there, maggot” and “get used to being poor ‘cause you won’t be getting another cent from me”. Another text allegedly said: “Put me in jail ‘cause there’s a whole club coming for you”. The bikie’s lawyer, Zoe Gilders, at the time disputed that some of the offending text messages were sent by her client — particularly the one referencing the “whole club coming” for Ms Camilleri — and that there was evidence of his wife deleting messages. Ms Gilders added that the alleged victim had an opportunity to report her husband in January last year but did not, with the complaint arising in December after she became aware he had a new partner. During the same hearing, in which Mr Camilleri’s bail application was refused, the prosecutor said that while his wife was now in a “safe place”, she remained worried her husband would be released. “She has found the strength to come forward and we need to protect her safety,” he said. “Due to Mr Camilleri’s history, his connections, there have been threats of intimidation that are believed to be, I would say, not (to be taken) lightly. “Essentially we are saying there’s no conditions you could impose that would ensure the safety of the victim going forward.” Mr Camilleri — a former associate of assassinated Rebels boss Nick Martin — appeared in Joondalup Magistrates Court by video link on Wednesday morning. He did not speak during the brief hearing other than to confirm his name, and his trial was set down for a two-day hearing on November 29-30. 1800RESPECT