A former supermarket employee who used to deliberately fail to scan items ‘purchased’ by family members was this morning acquitted of fraud.

The woman, Katia Formosa Magro, 27, of Zabbar, used to work at Scotts Supermarket in Zabbar.

She was charged with defrauding the supermarket by deliberately failing to scan items bought by her husband, mother and brother. As a result, they did not pay for the items.

Magistrate Edwina Grima said that although she was not contesting the facts of the case, Ms Formosa Magro had committed theft and not fraud so she should not have been charged with fraud.