Two heavily pregnant thieves have each been handed a four-month effective jail term for stealing a cash-filled purse from a woman in a Valletta clothes shop. 

Genoveva Stoilova, 25, and Iliana Ilieva, 23, Bulgarian-born, were arraigned in court after CCTV footage led to their identification.

The two were reportedly no fresh faces to the police. 

When making observations upon the applicable punishment, Magistrate Joseph Mifsud declared that visitors to Malta, be it for work or pleasure, must respect the laws of our country.

There was a small minority of foreigners who refused to do so, he said. He urged the authorities to take steps for the repatriation of such wrongdoers as necessary.

“Is it fair for a tourist to be robbed by another alleged tourist while shopping?” he queried.

Rather than using their pregnancy as an excuse for leniency, such wrongdoers ought to have safeguarded the child in their womb by not mingling with criminal company, the magistrate added as he handed down a four-month effective jail term to each of the accused.

Lawyer Etienne Calleja was defence counsel.