A former police officer and council hopeful has successfully appealed his conviction for assaulting a Hawke's Bay Lotto shop worker.

Stuart Russell McLachlan was convicted in January following a confrontation at a Havelock North store.

He was $1.20 short for buying a ticket, but refused to give it back.

When a female worker attempted to stop him leaving the store, he pushed her, and shoved the ticket down the front of her shirt.

He's since appealed his conviction in the High Court, arguing it would impede his search for work.

A judge agreed the consequences were out of all proportion to the gravity of the offending.