A former top cop in NSW has avoided jail after giving false evidence to the police watchdog. 

Former superintendent of the New South Wales (NSW) police force, Michael James Rowan, has successfully challenged his prison sentence for providing false evidence to the state's police watchdog. 

He had been convicted of two counts of providing false or misleading evidence to a Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) investigation into his relationship with three female officers. 

The court had previously heard that Mr Rowan initially told the LECC he had only a fleeting encounter with one of the women, then later “corrected” his evidence to say they spent time together at a hotel. He said had told the original story in an attempt to protect the woman because she was being “targeted and I didn't want to be part of that process of targeting her”.

Last year, Mr Rowan was given a minimum six-month sentence in jail for his actions.

But during a recent appeal hearing at the Sydney District Court, Judge Craig Smith said he recognised the severity of Mr Rowan’s wrongdoing and the impact of his senior position in the police force, stating; “It is of particular concern that the appellant was a senior officer, [in a] leadership position and a role model”.

At the same time, Judge Smith also described Rowan as a “dedicated police officer” who had previously handled “sensitive cases with care and experience”.

Mr Rowan's legal team filed an appeal against the jail term immediately after it was handed down in July 2022. 

At the appeal hearing, they presented a psychiatric report that had not been available at the time of Mr Rowan's initial sentencing. 

The report indicated that Mr Rowan had developed an adjustment disorder in 2017, and that his excessive use of alcohol at the time had compounded anxiety and depression, thereby affecting his ability to make good decisions.

The court also heard that after more than thirty years of service, Mr Rowan was medically retired from the police force in 2019 and had struggled to find work. 

Judge Smith was satisfied that Mr Rowan had shown genuine remorse for his actions, and was unlikely to reoffend. 

As a result, Judge Smith upheld Mr Rowan's conviction and instead sentenced him to an eight-month intensive corrections order and 100 hours of community service.