Mum’s no longer the word for jail-dodging pickpocket

A serial pickpocket who mugged a tourist in central Rome earlier this year is finally facing jail time — after a decade of using motherhood as an excuse to swerve custody. Italian police say Ana Zahirovic, convicted of 148 thefts, has avoided prison time for more than a decade because she was either pregnant or the mother of a small child.

The Romanian-Croatian, 31, was arrested at an encampment on the outskirts of the Italian capital, police said. It comes as Italian lawmakers debate a bill that would allow judges to put mothers of young children behind bars, rather than release them as the law currently requires.

Branded “Lady Pickpocket,” Zahirovic began her thieving career as a seven-year-old when she was caught swiping goods from a supermarket in Rome. By the time she reached her early teens she had been charged with more than 30 thefts.

The latest notch on her rap sheet came on June 22 when she and an accomplice were held over the street robbery of a visitor in the centre of Rome, The Times of London reported. But because she had given birth to her 10th child — a daughter — just a month earlier, she again avoided a prison sentence.

The tougher stance has been criticized by Italy’s opposition parties, with one lawmaker accusing proponents of being “blinded” by a “passion for punishment.”

Italy’s Interior Minister, Matteo Piantedosi, also vowed to set up a special police task force to tackle pickpockets on subway and train stations in Rome, Milan and Naples. It comes after a spate of attacks on tourists and clashes between rival pickpocket gangs that have seen some metro stations temporarily shut down.