An agent for a security company took the stand in Magistrates' Court and denied she stole $7,000 worth of surveillance equipment.

Carmen Marina Butterfield's alleged accomplice, Eric Eugene Wallace, also took the stand to deny the theft of the equipment from Hamilton security firm, Pro Tech Security, between July 1 and 24, 1997.

Butterfield, 38, of 24 Morgan's Road, Warwick, and Wallace, 28, of Second Avenue, Pembroke, are being tried before Magistrate Edward King.

They deny a charge of stealing a surveillance camera, control unit, and JVC monitor worth $7,895. Crown counsel Larry Mussenden presented most of his witnesses on April 1.

The pair claim they sold and installed equipment "on the side'' with the permission of Pro Tech owner Gabriel Johnston.

Represented by counsel Renee Foggo, they claim they bought the equipment from Mr. Johnston and he even helped them load it into their transportation.

Butterfield told Mr. King that Mr. Johnston was called away on an emergency otherwise he would have accompanied the pair to the Odyssey Nightclub to see how well the camera system operated in a dark room.

Both defendants claimed their second weekly payment to Mr. Johnston was not made only because of their arrests on August 10, 1997. "I had gone to Mr.

Johnston to discuss the matter and he agreed to sell us the equipment second hand and he only had to work out a price,'' Butterfield said.

Butterfield also claimed that Mr. Johnston later thanked her for buying the equipment.

She added: "Mr. Johnston did give us an invoice. I just wanted to make clear that Mr. Johnston was aware of payment on behalf of Butterfield and Wallace (the informal company they operated as).'' She said the trouble started when Mr. Johnston's wife Julie, a part-time worker, noted she had not endorsed the second cheque of $1,000.

"Mrs. Johnston realised I hadn't endorsed the cheque that I was paying on my invoice,'' Butterfield explained. "She was agitated at the fact she knew nothing about it.'' Butterfield added: "I just told her all the cheques were what her husband had requested that I pick up. She refused to give it to me and said she would check with her husband.'' A few days later she and Wallace were arrested.

Wallace confirmed Mr. Johnston helped him load the equipment and he installed it. Mr. Johnston knew he was doing the installation because they talked about using extra pipe for the wiring, Wallace said.

Wallace said a few days later he went to the Pro Tech office to drop off payment for the equipment, but found the doors locked.

He returned home to "await a call from Mr. Johnston to explain the situation'' and was arrested two days later.

In his summation, Mr. Mussenden said the case hinged on whether or not Butterfield and Wallace had permission to take the camera equipment away.

"Mr. Johnston said there was a certain amount of documentation which had to be prepared for each job at Pro Tech,'' Mr. Mussenden noted. "No such paperwork was completed.'' "There was no permission for this job,'' he added. "No permission for the removal of the equipment, no assistance by Mr. Johnston. This was an out and out clear taking of the equipment and amounted to theft.'' Ms Foggo said Mr. Johnston did not call the Police right away because he knew of the job and arrangement for purchasing the camera. Wallace and Butterfield's story had stayed the same since their arrest, she pointed out.

"They believed they had purchased the equipment from Pro Tech,'' Ms Foggo added. Mr. King adjourned the case until May 21 when he will give his judgment.