A salesgirl charged with stealing clothing from her employer is insisting that the value is minimal and nothinglike the huge amount mentioned by the police.

Sabrina Chetcuti, 24, from Marsascala, was originally charged with stealing clothing worth less than €230 but the charges were corrected yesterday to raise the amount to €11,000.

Noella Agius, a former colleague of the accused, said that they used to work at the Paola branch of Terranova where they were caught stealing items in July 2010. She had admitted to the theft and was conditionally discharged for six months.

She said she only started taking items after noticing colleagues whittling away items such as bags and other types of clothing. Ms Agius confessed to stealing about 70 items on two occasions.

She testified that she had seen colleagues taking items only once and Police Inspector Jurgen Vella, prosecuting, pressed her on this point.

Magistrate Carol Peralta warned her of the consequences of lying under oath. Perjury, he told her, was a serious matter and she could be jailed.

He insisted the witness should say the truth and, after some prodding by lawyer Robert Abela, Ms Agius said that she had seen colleagues take items on about three occasions.

Former Police Inspector Alexander Grech, who now works with Arriva, said he had investigated the case after Diane Izzo had reported the matter to the police.

He confirmed that Ms Chetcuti had admitted to stealing from the shop on about 10 occasions, taking one item at a time valued between €1.99 and €7.99 each.

Mr Grech said that while he could remember that the amount stolen was very large he was not the person who had issued the original charges.

Maria Agius, 21, from Paola was also arraigned over the theft. Her case is still ongoing.