Mathew David Newberry successfully appealed his sentence in Tamworth District Court last week, after he was charged with fraud last year.

The court heard the East Tamworth man had taken a family member on a trip to the Nundle State Forest last October when the "heavens opened up and there was torrential rain", solicitor Andrew O'Halloran said.

"His four-wheel-drive with his son in the front passenger seat got bogged and stuck in the mud," Mr O'Halloran said.

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The court heard Newberry was forced to trek out of the forest in the rain, and it took the pair hours to find a road on foot and get help.

Mr O'Halloran said they were dropped home by a passing motorist, but then things went further downhill.

He said his client was overcome with worry and stress, and was thinking about his work vehicle stuck in the mud.

The following morning, Newberry walked to the Tamworth Police Station and "clearly made the worst decision of his life", Mr O'Halloran said.

"He reported his vehicle as being stolen to a Tamworth police officer," he said.

"This is how he was thinking so irrationally ... he could have picked up the phone and rang [the insurance company] and made a lawful claim ... we do know the car was filling up with water and submerged in water."

Mr O'Halloran said Newberry was worried about his income after the incident and Judge Deborah Payne agreed he had an important role as caregiver.

Newberry was originally sentenced in the local court for dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception, but appealed to the district court against the severity.

Judge Payne declined to record a conviction, instead placing him on a two-year conditional release order. Newberry must pay $25,303 in compensation to the insurance company.

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