A woman who was jailed 13 months for stealing clothes from two retail stores was given one last change on Wednesday, with the sentence being converted to probation.

Daniela Spiteri, 38, had been targeted as the suspect behind a string of thefts from two clothing shops at St Julian’s and Valletta in August and October 2014 as well as in February the following year.

Shop staff had noticed that several items of clothing were disappearing off the shelves, with magnetic alarm tags discarded on the floor or stuffed inside the pockets of other garments hanging on the racks. 

Two salesgirls at the St Julian’s store subsequently kept watch, observing, through in-store CCTV cameras, a short, slim dark-haired woman lift items off the racks, pull apart the alarm magnets and then walk out.

On one occasion, one of the shop assistants had followed the stranger outside, taking note of her car number plate before she drove off. 

Another shop assistant at the Valletta store reported how she had once made eye contact with a female customer who appeared to be pulling apart the alarm tags and chucking men’s clothing into her bag. 

Not knowing quite what to do, the employee had rushed to alert her supervisor.

But meanwhile, the suspect thief had managed to slip away. 

The woman was ultimately arrested and prosecuted, landing a 13-month effective jail term for theft as well as for relapsing and breaching a probation order. 

She filed an appeal. 

The Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera, confirmed the conviction in respect of one of the thefts from the Valletta store, but revoked the conviction in respect of the other thefts on the basis of insufficient evidence.

In the CCTV footage put forward, there was nothing suspicious in the woman’s movements as she went about the shop and then walked out, like any other ordinary customer, the Court observed, adding that the footage showing the alleged theft had not been produced. 

Nor had the shop assistants operating the St Julian’s shop been called to testify. 

Moreover, the shop manager could not identify the accused in court, saying, “I think so, but I’m not sure.”

When considering punishment, the court observed that although the accused had wasted various past opportunities, she had now faced her drug problem which had prompted her to steal and was determined to turn her life around. 

After hearing Caritas officials and a probation officer confirm that the accused seemed determined to undergo rehabilitation and drew support from her family, the court decided to afford the woman one last chance, placing her under a three-year probation order. 

Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Amadeus Cachia assisted the accused.