A Pembroke man was locked up for 21 days yesterday after he became abusive and foul-mouthed in Magistrates Court.

Antoine Dillas, 37, let his mouth run in Magistrates' Court, causing Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves to jail him for contempt of court.

Dillas had been arrested on a warrant on Friday after failing to pay a previous $500 fine, and had spent the weekend in the cells at Hamilton Police Station.

But yesterday, he complained that he had not been allowed to make a phone call all weekend, which is his legal right.

Dillas, of Middletown, said he had paid the fine and could have produced the receipt in court if only he had been permitted to make a call to a relative.

He said: "I've not had one phone call since being locked up on Friday."

Dillas became more and more abusive and agitated in court, which led to him to at first being sentenced to seven days in prison.

However, when he failed to stop, and tried to leave the court, Mr. Greaves handed down a 21-day penalty, instead.