Clean slate for clergyman

High-profile clergyman Canon Robert Arthur Lowe, 75, has had a shoplifting charge against him withdrawn.

The former vicar of Fendalton, Christchurch, had applied for diversion under a scheme for first offenders. He will have no conviction on his record.

He had been charged with stealing chocolate bars worth $1.69 from a supermarket, a charge that he denied.

In 1981, he was acquitted on a charge of stealing a packet of pipe tobacco from a Christchurch supermarket.