A 35-year-old mother of 10 yesterday denied six counts of petty theft as she stood in the dock wiping tears from her face.

The woman, from Paola, denied stealing from a pharmacy, a supermarket and from four clothes shops, between December 2 and Monday.

During her arraignment, she said her three younger children, the youngest being three-years old, had been living with her but were now with her mother-in-law. Magistrate Audrey Demicoli denied bail because the accused has no fixed address.

The woman’s name is not being published to protect the identity of the children.