A mother and her three children were arraigned in court today and admitted to theft.

The 36-year-old and two daughters and a son, aged 12, 14 and 11 respectively, were accused of stealing mobile phones, cameras and other items from people at Splash and Fun.

A five-year-old child was also involved but was not arraigned.

The thefts took place over the last weekend and the previous one.

The four were caught by the police are surveillance in the wake of a number of reports. The woman's husband said he knew nothing of what had been going on.

The thefts were carried out by both the mother and her children and the stolen items were found at their home in Rabat.

The four were granted bail against a personal guarantee for the mother of €2,000. Sentence will be handed down in another sitting after a pre-sentencing report by Appogg.

Magistrate Miriam Hayman told the woman that she was at serious risk of having her children removed from her care if something of this sort happened again.

Names cannot be published by court order.

Dr Roberto Montalto was defence counsel.