World Bulletin / News Desk

A Danish court on Wednesday sentenced a Slovakian woman to 40 days in prison and ordered her to be deported for begging on the street, in the country's first ruling of its kind.

"This is the first time a person has been deported from Denmark for begging," Copenhagen police said in a statement.

During the trial it had emerged she had come to Denmark "with the sole purpose of supporting herself through begging," police said.

"It can seem harsh to deport a person for begging for money, but the fact is that begging is illegal in Denmark," prosecutor Anne Jacobsen said in a statement.

Begging is punishable by up to six months in prison in Denmark if the person has already received one or several warnings from police.

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