A senior is to appeal his conviction for driving his truck into the path of a 13-year-old boy and injuring him.

Walter Preece was found guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm in March 2007 by Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo and fined $2,000.

The court heard then that Preece, now aged 65, was employed as a senior stadium attendant by Government at the time of the incident near Bernard Park on July 10, 2006.

He denied driving his truck into the path of the boy and causing minor injuries to his cheek and forearm.

An appeal against the conviction and sentence was due to take place on Tuesday at Supreme Court but neither Preece or his lawyer Victoria Pearman attended.

Chief Justice Richard Ground said it was "disgraceful" that Ms Pearman had written to the Supreme Court to request an adjournment for her client instead of appearing in person.

Ms Pearman behaved in a "quite extraordinary way", he said, concerning the hearing. Mr. Justice Ground said he was irritated and inclined to throw the appeal out.

The court heard that Ms Pearman was ill and that no one else was available from her chambers. But Mr. Justice Ground said a letter from her a week before the hearing requesting an adjournment was something lawyers had been repeatedly told not to do.

"Some counsel appear to be deaf to this," he said. "You can only ask for an adjournment in person. I don't understand how counsel can write in a letter a week before the trial and 19 days after notice of hearing went out."

He said to assume that the matter had been stood down when there was no reply was "disgraceful".

Mr. Justice Ground added: "The counsel and appellant need to understand the danger they put themselves in by behaving in this quite extraordinary way."

He saw throwing the matter out would deprive Preece, whose address at the time of his conviction was Crown Hill Lane, Devonshire, of "his day in court" so he would not do so, instead adjourning the matter to a date to be fixed.