Pregnant Teenage Carer Charged With Attempted Murder Of Baby During Massive Ħamrun Fight
Natasha Bugeja drove right into the Pace’s case. Photo: Net News
A 19-year-old pregnant woman from Bormla has been charged with attempting to murder seven people, including an 11-month-old baby, during a major street fight in Hamrun this month.
During the fight, Natasha Bugeja, who works as a government carer for a cancer patient, tried to run over several pedestrians and then smashed her car into a vehicle whose passengers included a seven-year-old girl and an 11-month-old baby.
Bugeja has also been charged with slightly injuring four people, driving recklessly, damaging other vehicles, carrying an unlicensed knife in public, and breaching the public peace. She pleaded not guilty to all charges but was denied bail.
The fight took place between two families on 7th January at Triq Joseph Abela Scolaro, Hamrun close to the Maria Assumpta school. The two families had reportedly agreed to challenge each other to a fight close to where a relative of one of the families, Brandon Pace, was stabbed to death last year.
Inspector Elliot Magro told the court today that the three-month pregnant woman had driven into members of the Pace family twice – first running them over on the street and then ramming her car into theirs. A 7-year-old girl and an 11-month-old baby were inside the rammed car.
Bugeja then drove off, parked her car in Marsa and returned to Hamrun with her brother, where she was arrested. She was escorted to hospital for medical treatment under police bail and released today.
In today’s sitting, Bugeja’s lawyers Franco Debono and Arthur Azzopardi tried to appeal to magistrate Joe Mifsud’s’s better side – warning that Bugeja’s cancer patient will end up without a carer if bail for their client is denied. They also argued Bugeja had not attempted to contact any witnesses whilst out on police bail in hospital, and that in any case the fight was captured on CCTV, reducing the need for witness testimonies.
However, Mifsud reminded the lawyers their client has been charged with an extremely serious crime – the attempted murder of seven people, including two children.
“She should have reflected, both as an expectant mother and a carer before doing what she did,” Mifsud said.
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