A woman who admitted stealing from a Qormi jewellery shop has been ordered to do 100 hours of community service after a court heard a probation officer say that the accused had since been recovering from a drug problem.

Shirley Micallef, 33 of Cospicua, admitted to having stolen €850 worth of jewellery from Il-Gojjel in Qormi. Most of the items were rings. The theft took place in December 2010.

She also admitted breaking the conditions of previous court sentences.

A probation officer who had been monitoring the accused, said the theft occured at a difficult period of her life but since then she had been recovering from drug abuse and following rehabilitation.

The court said that in the circumstances, rather than a prison sentence, society would be better served if the accused recovered from her drug problem. After considering that the accused had refunded the jeweller, the court placed Ms Micallef under probation, imposed 100 hours of community work and fined her €232.