21-year-old Bulgarian woman admits to begging

A court has conditionally discharged a young Bulgarian woman after she was arraigned for begging, earlier this morning.

Inspector Jeffrey Scicluna charged 21-year-old Todorka Atanasova with living a life of vagrancy and begging for alms in Republic Street, where she had been picked up by police yesterday.

When asked to confirm her address by the Magistrate, she replied that she had none.

Atanasova, who speaks neither English nor Maltese, was the picture of terrified misery as she struggled to compose herself in between bouts of sobbing.

With the aid of a translator, the woman pleaded guilty to the charges.

The court reminded her of the consequences of her admission, explaining that she could go to prison if she admitted, but the woman reiterated her guilty plea. The prosecution and defence informed the court that they were both seeking a conditional discharge for the woman.

The magistrate, taking into account her early admission, clean criminal record and the agreement of the prosecution and defence counsel, conditionally discharged Atanasova for three months and warned her that committing another offence in those three months would result in the proceedings being reopened.