Woolworths toilet paper brawl: Treiza and Meriam Bebawy found GUILTY

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Woolworths toilet paper brawl: Treiza and Meriam Bebawy found GUILTY

A mother and daughter at the centre of the panic buying brawl that shocked Australia have been slammed by a magistrate.  

Meriam and Treiza Bebawy, 23 and 61, were found guilty of affray charges over their wild brawl at a south-west Sydney Woolworths. 

The pair had tried to argue they were acting in self-defence after fellow shopper Tracy Hickson had grabbed a pack from their loaded-up trolley that March morning. 

But that defence was rejected today by Magistrate Peter Bugden as he finally brought the humiliating saga to an end some four months after the fact.

Mother-daughter Meriam and Treiza Bebawy, above, were each found guilty of the charge of affray – with the younger woman, 23, getting hit with a criminal conviction

Healthcare worker Meriam Bebawy had told police they ‘urgently’ needed loo roll as her mother Treiza (right) ran a family day care centre 

Magistrate Peter Bugden took particular aim at the younger woman, saying: ‘She took the law into her own hands’.

The softly-spoken magistrate had spent the weekend mulling over the farcical fight and slapped Ms Bebawy with a criminal conviction and a good behaviour bond. 

The magistrate ruled Meriam had chosen to ‘smash’ the snatched toilet paper pack out of the victim’s hands. 

He said she had then acted inappropriately by continuing to lash out. She had told police ‘I hit her across the face, thinking if i hurt her, she’d let go of my hair.’

The magistrate said:  ‘I do not think it was appropriate that Meriam Bebawy continued in the way she did after she saw what she regarded as her toilet roll taken.’

Mr Bugden said Ms Bebawy’s mother, Egyptian migrant Treiza, then entered the fray, striking victim Tracy Hickson.

‘Was that a natural reaction from a mother seeing their daughter involved in a fight? Maybe.

‘I’m reminded of an analogy from rugby league… these days, it’s the second man into the fight who gets the penalty.’

Mobile phone footage had captured Ms Hickson demanding just one pack from the pair, who had filled up their trolley with eight. 

A furious Treiza told her: ‘No, not one pack’.  

The pair claimed they needed toilet paper ‘urgently’ after a fruitless hunt through Sydney stores and a failed attempt to purchase through Click&Collect

Meriam Bebawy, 23, (left) told police in an electronically recorded interview that they weren’t like an ‘average’ family in their situation. Treiza Bebawy claimed in her police interview that their alleged victim had sworn at them and used the F word – which she said she has never used in her life

The court had heard evidence that the fight had came about after they had suffered through a fruitless, week-long search for toilet paper, including a failed attempt to buy some packs through Click&Collect.

Treiza ran a family daycare centre, they argued, and Meriam needed to take a load back home to Wollongong. 

The wild incident allegedly occurred as a crowd of as many as 40 people bolted inside the store in a rush for toilet paper as doors opened that Saturday morning. 

The magistrate ultimately spared Treiza Bebawy a conviction and handed her a good behaviour bond, saying that neither had any criminal record. 

Despite the stiffer sentence for Meriam Bebawy, he said she was a person of ‘excellent character’.  

Neither were at court for the decision and were instead represented by a lawyer.

The charge of ‘affray’ means that a person acts of threatens ‘unlawful violence’ which could cause a person of ‘reasonable firmness’ to fear for their safety. 

Source: Daily Mail Australia | News Colony

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