A 15-year-old girl from Valletta this afternoon pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of a 14-year-old girl from Zebbug on Wednesday evening.

She was also charged with seriously injuring the girl and carrying a knife illegally.

The girl's 16-year-old sister and a 14-year-old cousin, both of Valletta pleaded not guilty to seriously injuring the victim. The 16-year-old is also charged with tampering of evidence and all three are charged with breaching public peace.

The victim was stabbed three times in the back in St Nicholas Street, Valletta following a fight over a boy.

The girl charged with the attempted murder, who is now pregnant with someone else's child, used to go out with the victim's boyfriend.

Lawyer Jose Herrera, who is appearing for the three girls together with Franco Debono, told the court there were serious social problems involving all three girls.

So deep rooted were these social problems that the 14-year-old girl's father had been a murder victim.

This girl was still at school. When asked what they did, her cousins replied that they helped their mother.

Dr Herrera said he was basing his defence on self-defence and pointed out that the 15-year-old girl had always carried a knife with her because she had been previously attacked by an Arab.

Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona told Dr Herrera that social problems were no excuse for carrying a knife on one's body.

He granted all three bail and placed them under a curfew. The 15-year-old's bail is against a personal guarantee of €2,000, that of the other two against a personal guarantee of €1,000.