A pregnant mother-of-one stole high-performance electric guitars from music shops by hiding them up her long skirt after her husband passed them to her.

Madelina Iancu (19) and husband Veniamin Raducanu (23) stole two guitars, worth €6,000, in two visits to Dublin city centre shops on consecutive days, a court heard.

Raducanu, who claimed to have an "interest in music", was jailed for six months for his part in the theft, while Iancu had her six-month sentence fully suspended.

Judge Michael Walsh said they had been "carefully planned, carefully orchestrated" crimes.

He refused to suspend Raducanu's sentence after defence solicitor Michelle Finan argued there was case law covering equal treatment of male and female accused on identical charges.

The couple, from Coolmine Court, Blanchardstown, both pleaded guilty to theft and garda obstruction.

Dublin District Court heard they stole a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar, worth €2,999, from X Music on Exchequer Street on July 2. The following day they stole a €3,000 Warner guitar at Some Neck Guitars on Aungier Street.

The court heard the pair went to the first store and Raducanu passed a guitar to his wife, who placed it under the long skirt she was wearing. They were later identified on CCTV.

The next day, the pair did the same thing. Later the following day, gardai called at their home with a search warrant and both accused violently resisted.

The guitars were discovered undamaged in a back bedroom.

The couple, from Romania, had been in Ireland since February and neither had any previous convictions.

"It was opportunistic. They thought they had got away with it the first time and did it again," Ms Finan said.

Refusing Ms Finan's application to also suspend Raducanu's sentence, the judge said he had made a "subtle distinction" in relation to the evidence in each case.

Herald