A woman who admitted stealing €60,000 from her parents’ bank account to fund drug-taking has been placed on probation after her parents dropped their complaint.

Joelle Galea, 33 of Sliema, who was first arraigned last year, had admitted to having stolen cash cards from her parents’ home and using their password to siphon funds from their bank account.

She also pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis resin and ecstasy which were found by police at her home.

After that early guilty plea, her defence lawyer, Dr Stephen Tonna Lowell, had requested a pre-sentencing report, a request that was upheld by the court. Magistrate Charmaine Galea advised the accused that it was in her own interest to cooperate with the probation officer assigned to her.

The officer had since reported that the woman had “manifested the will to move on.”

The court also heard that the parents had withdrawn their complaint.

In the light of this outcome, as well as the withdrawal of the complaint,  the court concluded that the woman was to be given a chance to proceed along this path.

The court placed the accused under a 3-year Probation Order and fined her €1000, stressing that this “could be the only chance” and warning her to abide by the conditions in the judgment.

Inspectors Mark Anthony Mercieca and Lara Butters prosecuted