A Spanish tourist who seriously injured a five-year-old boy when she ran over him as he was crossing the street at Qajjenza in Birzebbuga yesterday, was charged in court this morning.

Former teacher and friend of the accused, Begonia Gonzales, a passenger in the front seat at the time of the accident, recalled that as soon as they drove around a sharp bend near the scene driver Ana Maria Garcia, 62, swerved.

Ms Gonzales said she did not see the boy at first but heard Ms Garcia shouting “Niño, Niño, Niño,” (child, child, child).

She said she then saw the child run into the car and at that point Ms Garcia slammed on the brakes and stopped two or three meters away.

They panicked, got out to see how the boy was and a man who was with the boy started to get violent.

During cross examination, Ms Gonzales said the same man approached the accused while she was waiting in the corridor at the court house and asked her for money.

Mario Aquia, Ms Garcia’s brother and also a former teacher, was sitting in the back of the car.

Taking the witness stand, he said he saw the boy run away from his mother into the middle of the street. He then stopped, looked at his mother and continued to run right into the car.

The two witnesses are due to leave the island tomorrow. Ms Garcia will be leaving on Thursday after the other witnesses are heard and the case is decided upon.