EXCLUSIVE: How a mother and daughter ended up in Australia's most infamous supermarket brawl over ONE jumbo pack of toilet paper rolls when COVID-19 panic buying began - and are now facing up to 10 years' jail
- Panic-buying mother and daughter accused of Woolworths brawl are revealed
- Sydney court date looms for Treiza Bebawy, 60, and daughter Meriam, 23
- The Bankstown pair allegedly scuffled with woman in viral video
- Video allegedly shows 49-year-old victim saying 'I just wanted one pack!'
- To which Mrs Bebawy, pushing a loaded trolley, allegedly said: 'No, not one'
A panic buying mother and daughter accused of fighting with another shopper in a Woolworths supermarket claim they were just protecting their jumbo pack of toilet paper.
Treiza Bebawy, 60, and Meriam, 23, were charged by police after video of their alleged behaviour at a south-western Sydney Woolworths went viral last month.
The pair, of an Egyptian migrant family from Bankstown, were apparently incensed after a woman, 49, battled them for toilet paper packs in the early hours of March 7.
After hair-pulling, scuffling and screaming, the furious victim spat at the Bebawy family: 'I just wanted one pack!'
Mrs Bebawy is then recorded saying 'no, not one pack!' while shielding her trolley loaded with Quilton three-ply.
Meriam Bebawy, 23, and her mother Treiza, 60, were charged with affray over the Woolworths supermarket brawl
The Bebawy family members allegedly scuffled with the victim, above, at a Woolworths supermarket after collecting a sizeable amount of toilet paper
The alleged fracas ended with one Woolworths employee overheard telling Mrs Bebawy: 'You are fighting over tissues. Think about what you're doing, yeah?'
The brawl began shortly after the store opened, with police called about 7am on a Saturday.
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It came as Australians bizarrely swept the supermarket shelves of toilet paper to an 'unprecedented' extent - sparking store shortages across the country - in response to fears of coronavirus shutdowns.
Accused: Mariam Begawy
NSW Police were called to Woolworths and spoke to the victim early that morning, sparking withering comments from a senior officer.
'We just ask that people don't panic like this when they go out shopping,' acting inspector Andrew New told reporters at the time.
'There is no need for it. It isn't the Thunderdome, it isn't Mad Max, we don't need to do that.'
The accused pair handed themselves in to police that evening, shielding their faces from waiting cameras. Their identities can now be revealed as their court date looms.
Both were charged with affray, an offence that has a maximum punishment of up to 10 years' imprisonment.
The victim (on right) yelled at the pair that she just wanted 'one pack' - after the Bebawys had allegedly loaded up a trolley full of Quilton toilet paper
The definition of the charge under the Crimes Act is that of a 'person who uses or threatens unlawful violence towards another and whose conduct is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his or her personal safety'.
'If two or more persons use or threaten the unlawful violence, it is the conduct of them taken together that must be considered.'
The victim escaped the brawl uninjured.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Mrs and Miss Bebawy for comment this week. A family spokeswoman hung up the phone.
6,010 Australians had tested positive to the coronavirus at time of publication
The pair face court on April 28.
