Court sends 'clear and unequivocal message' to would-be thieves

A 22-year-old Romanian shoplifter has been jailed for a year after pleading guilty to stealing clothes from two shops in the Sliema area.

Inspector Mark Mercieca had accused Susan Andrei of pilfering items of clothing from the Adidas shop in Tignè on the 3rd September and from Zara at The Strand on 29th January.

Although Andrei had admitted guilt for the thefts at an early stage in the proceedings, the Court noted that he had no alternative but to, seeing as as he was caught red-handed.

In handing down a sentence of one year in prison, Magistrate Ian Farrugia observed that the Romanian lived in Malta but was unemployed and had no fixed address. Concerned that this type of crime is on the increase, the court said it wanted to impose a punishment that would convey a “clear and unequivocal message” to would-be thieves that crimes of this nature are not going to be tolerated.