A 26-year-old pregnant woman who is due within the next three weeks, was today jailed for three months after she admitted breaching bail conditions.

Donna Camilleri broke down in tears when Magistrate Neville Camillri read out the judgment, in which he said that she had to learn once and for all that the courts were not a joke and she could not keep using her pregnancy as an excuse to get lenient judgments.

He pointed out that in August Ms Camilleri was given a suspended jail term for theft. Even then, her pregnancy was taken into account.

Earlier this week she was accused, together with her sister Amanda (who is also pregnant), and another man, of their involvement in breaking into a Gzira shop. In that case she was granted bail against a personal guarantee of €3,000 and on condition that she was indoors by 6pm.

However, on Tuesday, police patrolling the Gzira found her out at 11.55pm.

Today, Ms Camilleri admitted to breaching bail.

Police Inspector Jason Sultana told the court that while Ms Camilleri needed someone to remprimand her, he was not convinced that jail was the right option.

Her problem was that her boyfriend was a bad influence and kept getting her into trouble. She had a drug problem and had been told she could start a rehabilitation programme if her sister dropped out, as there was no space.

Legal aid lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace said his client needed help and he agreed that jail was not ideal.

However, the magistrate noted that she had been given chances before and had used her pregnancy to get a lighter punishment.

In this case she faced a six-month jail term but she was jailed for three months. Her personal guarantee of €3,000 was not seized.

The magistrate recommended that she be kept at Mt Carmel Hospital and given all the help she needed when the time came to give birth.