Glenn Phillip Wilson sentenced for making false police statement about alleged robbery in Tamworth

Glenn Phillip Wilson fronted Tamworth Local Court for sentencing when he was handed a 15-month good behavior order for making a false statement to police resulting in an investigation.

The court heard the 46-year-old was trying to do a "good thing" when he went to Tamworth Police Station and told officers he was knocked to the ground by four men, kicked and robbed of $500 cash in the CBD.

An investigation into the reported aggravated robbery and extensive reviews of high quality CCTV led detectives to question Wilson's story, because he and his attackers were nowhere to be seen.

Magistrate Julie Soars said misleading police was very serious.

"You have no idea where it could go if you make false statements to police," Ms Soars told Wilson.

She said his lack of a criminal record had helped him avoid time behind bars.

"Without good character ... people sometimes get a jail sentence," she said.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Alex Thom didn't push for a conviction to be recorded and it was not.

The court heard it was a strange case.

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Wilson's defence solicitor handed up a letter of apology and told the court the matter had stemmed from a criminal act where Wilson was the victim.

He said Wilson, a Floraville man, had not dealt with police before and didn't understand that the location of the alleged attack was an important part of the investigation.

"He has no idea how police operate," the lawyer said.

"He was trying to do a good thing, kind of, by reporting it to police ... he's done his best."

The defence solicitor said Wilson had told detectives the robbery had taken place in the CBD because he was trying to avoid police going near his partner's business in South Tamworth.

He told the court there was a group of men near the business - who were not the ones that allegedly attacked him - but he was fearful of getting on their "bad side".

A set of agreed police facts detail how Wilson went to the police station about 8pm on June 20 and said he was a victim of an aggravated robbery earlier that evening.

Detectives were called to investigate.

Wilson had signed a statement he made and also signed a map that was printed from Google maps, marking an X on the spot he said he was robbed in Treloar Lane.

He allowed detectives to photograph his injuries and handed over items for forensic examination.

In his original statement, Wilson said he had walked through Bicentennial Park and along Kable Avenue on his way to make a deposit at an ATM.

He said four unknown men approached him, demanded money, knocked him to the ground and kicked him several times, then fled with $500 cash.

Police launched an investigation and reviewed CCTV which would have captured the movements on multiple cameras. They looked over it at length again the next day.

Wilson and the four men could not be seen.

Detectives canvassed Treloar Lane and accessed a CCTV camera covering the exact area Wilson had marked with an X on the map.

"At the completion of a review of this CCTV neither the accused or the four alleged offenders can be seen at any time," the document says.

After two days of investigations, police went to see Wilson on the morning of June 22.

He was filmed on bodyworn video admitting his first statement was not truthful and saying he'd actually left his partner's business on the other side of town to walk to Wests for dinner.

He then claimed he was walking along the Kent Street footpath when he was robbed.

Police started to investigate this version and again reviewed high quality CCTV footage.

The cameras reveal Wilson getting into his partner's car at the business about 6pm and driving away before returning about 7pm.

Police again met with the accused later that same day and it was established he had lied in his second version as well.

"The exact details of what did or did not occur in the evening of 20 June, 2022, is still unknown," the set of agreed police facts say.

"The accused apologised for mucking police around."

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