A Romanian couple handed a suspended prison sentence last month after admitting to a string of pickpocketing thefts in Valletta are back in court, accused of carrying out fresh thefts less than a week after walking free.
Sandu Marius, 44, and Lucica Ivanciv, 43, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to new charges alleging they stole from two elderly victims in Valletta on June 29 - just five days after they were given a two-year prison sentence suspended for four years for similar offences.
No request for bail was made.
The arraignment comes against the backdrop of mounting concern over a rise in pickpocketing in the capital.
Recently, tourist guides have warned that thefts had become increasingly common around the Upper Barrakka Gardens, the Valletta entrance and the bus terminus.
Police linked two theft reports to the same pair
Police received two separate reports of pickpocketing in Valletta in the afternoon of June 29.
Although the complaints initially appeared unrelated, investigators soon pieced together CCTV footage and concluded that both incidents had been carried out by the same man and woman.
The pair allegedly preyed on elderly victims, quietly opening their handbags, rummaging through them and slipping away with cash and other belongings before the victims realised what had happened.
In one case, stolen bank cards were allegedly used shortly afterwards at shops in Triton Square.
Footage from the area clearly captured the suspects, the inspector said, allowing officers to quickly recognise them as the same couple who had appeared before the court weeks earlier on virtually identical charges.
An arrest warrant was issued soon afterwards.
Arrest at the law courts
On Thursday, a police officer spotted Ivanciv inside the Valletta law courts while she was still being sought.
She was arrested on the spot and escorted by police to the couple's San Ġwann residence.
Officers found Marius at the property and arrested him.
A subsequent search of the residence allegedly uncovered several items linked to the thefts.
Suspended sentence had followed earlier investigation
Last June, the pair admitted responsibility for four thefts carried out between April and May after a police investigation into 22 reported pickpocketing incidents in Valletta.
Police had told the court that Marius used a folded tourist map as cover while stealing from unsuspecting victims before discreetly passing the stolen items to Ivanciv.
They were eventually tracked down through CCTV footage and arrested at the Upper Barrakka Gardens.
The prosecution was led by AG lawyer Julia Micallef Stafrace together with Inspectors Stephen Gulia and Jeffrey Rizzo. Lawyer Franco Debono and Adreana Zammit appeared for the accused.