The son of a wealthy art collector has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing the live-in maid repeatedly at his family’s luxury Chelsea home.
Maximillian Bourne, 25, is accused of an attack on Joselia Pereira Do Nascimento on Sunday, February 25, at his family’s five-bedroom property in Justice Walk.
Appearing in the dock at Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday, Bourne stated: “I’m a nice, very good-looking white boy from Chelsea”.
Prosecutor Kalsoom Shah told the hearing Ms Pereira Do Nacimento was rushed to hospital after allegedly being stabbed multiple times and suffering injuries to the face and back.
“The defendant faces a charge of attempted murder”, she said.
“The victim was critical, but her injuries are now not life-threatening.”
The court heard Ms Pereira Do Nacimento is a “live-in maid at the property”, and was allegedly attacked at the home, which was valued in 2014 at £14.5 million.
The property was once a working 18th Century courthouse where prisoners were shackled and put on trial for crimes including highway robbery and petty theft, and was converted in 1998 into a luxury home.
Ms Shah added that the maid is expected to spend a minimum of a week in hospital while recovering from her injuries.
Bourne is the son of art dealer and philanthropist Sylvia Bourne and property developer Graham Bourne, and is the great great grandson of Epitácio Pessoa who was the President of Brazil from 1919 to 1922.
Mrs Bourne’s father, Carlos Alberto Pessoa Pardellas, was a prominent diplomat who served as an ambassador to the UK.
On Wednesday morning, a neighbour told The Standard they had seen “lots of police and a smashed window”.
“Given the size of the house and the area, they must be very rich.”
Bourne, who wore a prison-issue grey tracksuit to his court hearing, was remanded into custody until a plea hearing at the Old Bailey on March 26.
He did not enter or indicate a plea to the charge of attempted murder during Tuesday’s hearing.
