Two underage French girls were conditionally discharged for three years after pleading guilty to shoplifting in Valletta.
The students, both 16, admitted stealing almost €300 worth of items from Mango, Miss Selfridge and Jennyfer outlets.
Police Inspector Godwin Scerri told Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras the teenagers took clothes from shelves and from the changing room, using a pair of scissors to cut off the security labels.
He said the girls had two bags of stolen clothes in their possession when they were caught, adding that the items had all been returned.
In conditionally discharging them, the magistrate warned them they could have been jailed for three years.
Lawyer Martin Fenech appeared for the teenagers.