A 76-year-old Romanian woman who has no money to sustain herself and who prefers spending the little money she has on cigarettes rather than on food, has been jailed for a month after admitting to shoplifting.

The woman, Tita Budescu, came to Malta to see her grandson. She was caught shoplifting two T-shirts from the Diesel outlet in Sliema on Monday at 4pm.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera heard how the grandson had paid for the stolen items but heard how the woman had no money and just wanted to return to Romania.

She heard how the grandson, who works in the construction industry in Malta, had offered to buy her an air ticket to return to Romania.

"I do not want people begging on the streets. If she does not have means to sustain herself she can wait in jail until the ticket is purchased and then she can return," the magistrate said. "If she is capable of stealing, she should be capable of going to jail," she added.

Defence counsel Abigail Bugeja asked the court to show clemency so the magistrate jailed the elderly woman for a month, which is the bare minimum.

Police Inspector Neville Mercieca prosecuted.