A former police officer and council hopeful has successfully appealed his assault conviction.
Stuart Russell McLachlan, who ran for Napier City Council in last year's local body elections, was convicted in January this year following a confrontation with a Lotto shop worker in Havelock North.
The court heard he went to the Lotto store and attempted to purchase a ticket in March 2013.
He was $1.20 short but refused to give the ticket back resulting in the victim going around to the other side of the counter and attempting to stop him from leaving the store without paying for the ticket in full. She was later pushed by the former policeman, who took the Lotto ticket and shoved it down the front of the her shirt.
He defended the charge after turning down a police offer of diversion, where he would have needed to plead guilty to escape conviction.
Earlier he was unsuccessful in applying for name suppression on the basis publicity would be prejudicial to his political aspirations.
Judge Bridget Mackintosh later found him guilty of the charge and declined his application for a discharge without conviction. He appealed the decision and took the matter to the High Court, arguing the conviction would impede his search for work.
In her decision released earlier this week, Justice Mary Peters agreed, concluding the consequences of a conviction "were out of all proportion to the gravity of the offending", and discharged him without conviction.