Two fire extinguishers, a soap dispenser, mirror and door lock were the subjects of a theft charge against former radio talk show host and political candidate Sandra Catron. She was also charged with wilfully causing damage to the interior of a unit she had rented at Centennial Towers.

After the Crown completed its evidence earlier this month, Ms Catron argued there was no case for her to answer. On Wednesday afternoon, Chief Magistrate Margaret Ramsay-Hale agreed with her and dismissed the charges.

They arose from incidents in November 2009 at the commercial complex in West Bay where Ms Catron had rented space. In the process of vacating the unit, she removed fixtures and damaged a partition she had paid to have installed.

Crown Counsel Tanya Lobban called witnesses who explained what damage had been done and under what circumstances. The cost to repair the damage was $702.60. The value of the items removed was $172.35.

Ms Catron cited a high court decision stating that no offence is committed if the person damaging the property of another does so in the honest but mistaken belief that the property is his own.

Ms Lobban argued that the defendant had acted in bad faith, deliberately destroying the partition because there was no agreement in place to compensate her for it.

The magistrate said the Crown had failed to prove a dishonest intent. She pointed to evidence that the owners’ initial position was that the renter should put the unit back as it was when she rented it. They then advised her that she did not have permission to remove anything. If the owners did not know the terms of their contract, how could the defendant, the magistrate concluded.