A British woman today was remanded in custody after she pleaded not guilty to stealing a suitcase from Malta's International Airport. 

She was also fined for contempt of court after she kept shouting at the magistrate from the dock.

On Monday, a Maltese couple who had just arrived from Barcelona reported that one of their suitcases had not arrived.  However, the airport security staff informed them that the luggage had been picked up.

CCTV footage showed Shannon-Leigh Williams picking up the couple's luggage.

Ms Williams was then spotted by the couple in Xemxija, sporting a hand-bag and sneakers identical to the ones which were in the stolen luggage.

In court, the accused said that she had gone to the airport to pick up a suitcase which had not arrived after a flight to Malta in May, adding that she had shown her passport to a member of the airport and was let in.

She told the court that the baggage was similar to hers and that when she opened the suitcase there was a handbag similar to hers, adding that she did not go through the entire items packed in the suitcase.

Magistrate Carol Peralta then proceeded to show her eight photos of the stolen dresses."Do you mean to tell me that you happen to have eight identical dresses?" he said.

Ms William kept trying to defend herself from the bench, arguing that she has a clean record and this was nothing but a simple mistake.

The magistrate told her she was being arrogant and fined her 200 Euro for contempt of court.

Christopher Chircop was appointed legal aid.