A woman who in court said she had a drug addiction problem yesterday pleaded guilty to stealing her mother’s debit card and withdrawing Lm80 from her account.

Marika Muscat, 33, from Cospicua, admitted to the charges brought against her. In court, she told Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani that she had a drug addiction problem and had tried kicking the habit many times but always regressed and returned to her addiction.

Magistrate Padovani granted the woman bail against a personal guarantee of Lm1,000 and ordered her to start and successfully complete a drug addiction rehabilitation programme.

The woman started crying when the magistrate appointed Sedqa officials to look into her addiction problem and said that she preferred Caritas because they knew her and her history. The magistrate pointed out that the rehabilitation programmes at Caritas seem to have had no effect on her addiction because she returned to drugs and suggested that it would be better if she tried Sedqa this time.

But the woman insisted on Caritas and the magistrate acceded to her request, warning her that if she did not complete the programme, she would lose her bail and also the Lm1,000 personal guarantee.

Police Inspector Alexander Grech prosecuted while Dr Marion Camilleri appeared for the accused.