A tourist who cradled her jail-born baby in the High Court during her appeal against a 12-month sentence for pickpocketing was freed yesterday.
Sav Cham Roeun, 28, was one of two pregnant Cambodians who escaped with a purse after a woman's handbag was slashed open last October.
Sav's child, born in prison five months ago, cried out when she brought him into court for her appeal.
Mr Justice Raymond Sears suggested prison authorities provide a creche so children did not appear with their mothers in the dock.
'It is not right. It puts undue pressure on a judge trying a case when you see someone with a child in the dock,' he said. 'It is not conducive to proper judgments.' But the judge said the child would not influence his decision.
Sav, who was eight months pregnant at the time of the crime, was jailed for a year after magistrate Lister Howell found her guilty of theft. Her accomplice Si Pa, 31, five months pregnant, pleaded guilty and was sent to prison for six months.