Pregnant thief jailed after admitting burglary when police questioned her on a separate case

A pregnant drug addict was today jailed for two years and eight months after admitting to stealing thousands of Euros in cash and jewellery when she and two accomplices broke into the house of a 92-year-old woman.

Donna Sciberras, a 20-year-old drug addict who is three months pregnant, spilled the beans on the theft when she was arrested as part of police investigations into a theft from a Sliema house.

She told police that she had nothing to do with the Sliema theft but had committed a theft from Birzebbuga on June 9. She also told police who her two accomplices were, one of whom is her boyfriend, Andrea Busuttil.

The theft took place early in the morning on June 9 in Triq Alessandru, Birzebbuga. The nonagenarian was targeted because Ms Sciberras’s mother, Josette Pisani, often went to the woman’s house to clean.

Ms Pisani is still being investigated on her involvement after her daughter said it was her mother who tipped her off on the woman as a possible target, Police Inspector John Spiteri told the court.

He said the daughter called the mother at around 4 am on the day of the burglary to ask her for directions to the house.

He was testifying during the compilation of evidence against Ms Sciberras who stands charged with the robbery, holding the woman against her will, threatening a police inspector, failing to abide by police bail conditions and with relapsing.

Inspector Spiteri said the elderly woman told police between €200 and €400 were stolen during the robbery. She told them the doorbell rang and she opened without checking who it was. The robbers, three in all, pushed her inside and demanded money, which she handed over.

But during their investigations, Ms Sciberras told the police that her share from the robbery was around €2,000, giving the police investigations another twist.

Inspector Saviour Baldacchino, who is also prosecuting, said Ms Sciberras had been granted police bail while investigations continued but she failed to appear when asked to.

He said one of the aggressors grabbed a gold chain being worn by the elderly woman and pushed her onto the bed as they were leaving the residence.

Inspector Spiteri said the police investigations revealed that the three robbers were hooded but Ms Sciberras shook her head as she stood in the dock.

At the end of sitting, defence counsel Leontine Calleja said her client was changing her plea and wanted to admit to the charges brought against her. She requested that a punishment below the minimum, given her state of health and her pregnancy.

But Magistrate Audrey Demicoli said Ms Sciberras was not a first time offender and had been given various opportunities to reform. 

Dr Calleja said her client was not violent with the woman and did not know the robbery “was going to escalate” to that degree.

The inspectors, on their part, told the court that Ms Sciberras cooperated with the police and had helped with the identification of accomplices who will also face criminal proceedings.

The magistrate jailed Ms Sciberras for two years and eight months  and recommended that she be kept at the Forensic Ward at Mount Carmel Hospital.

One of the alleged accomplices is Mr Busuttil, 27, from Sliema, who is currently in preventive custody after being charged with jumping into the sea to prevent his arrest on August 5. He had been on the wanted list since July 30 when the police went to his house armed with a search warrant over his alleged involvement in the Birzebbuga robbery.

But while the search was under way, Mr Busuttil escaped and could not be found. He was spotted again a week later but when he realised he was surrounded by the police, he escaped again. After a long run, he jumped into the sea at Manoel Island and was finally arrested at sea by a police inspector who jumped in after him.