A woman used her four-year-old child to distract shopkeepers while her younger brother stole goods to fuel their drug habit, a court heard yesterday.

The dishevelled looking siblings, Daniela Cassar, 34, and Omar Chalbi, 21, both of San Ġwann, denied stealing €200 worth of goods from a pharmacy and a clothes shop on Monday and Tuesday.

As pleas on bail began, Ms Cassar asked not to be remanded in custody and told Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna she had a four-year-old girl to look after.

At this point, Police Inspector Daniel Zammit said it was the same child they used to steal from the shops and that, if granted bail, it was more than likely they would reoffend, given their dependence on drugs.

Defence lawyer Josè Herrera pointed out that the crimes were basically petty but the magistrate commented, as he paged through their criminal records, they were repetitive. He noted they had been giving probation terms and even suspended jail terms for the same sort of crime.

Ms Cassar said she had been clean for the three years following her last court case in which she received a suspended jail term, teaching her a lesson. She added it was only now she had given in to temptation.

The pair were remanded in custody.