Lawyer Llewelyn Peniston has been asked to apologise after he accused Acting Senior Magistrate Tyrone Chin of mollycoddling delinquent fathers in a scathing letter.

Mr. Peniston was asked to leave Monday morning's plea court session by Mr. Chin for refusing to apologise for the letter he wrote complaining about his handling of a child support case.

Mr. Peniston appeared as duty defence counsel on Monday in Magistrates Court, where Mr. Chin was sitting as Magistrate.

But Mr. Chin refused to begin the day's proceedings until he had received a full apology from Mr. Peniston for the letter he received back in November.

And when he refused, the lawyer was asked to leave the court, leaving no duty counsel available to help defendants with legal advice.

When contacted by The Royal Gazette Mr. Chin said: "I cannot speak to the press on this matter as it is being dealt with internally."

But Mr. Peniston was more than happy to explain the differences of opinion, which he claimed arose when he was representing a mother in Family Court on a child maintenance issue.

"Mr. Chin's actions were against the Magistrates' Court Act of 1948, and were as a direct consequence of the letter that I had written," said Mr. Peniston.

"In the letter, I told Mr. Chin that his children were guaranteed a good Christmas, with presents stacked under the Christmas tree, but this child would not have that.

"I also said that `when you are enjoying your Christmas dinner, I hope that you remember this child and lose your appetite'."

Mr. Pensiton said his client was a woman with a four-year-old daughter, and said the father had never supported his child.

"The mother is earning only $350 per week and is struggling to survive, paying nursery fees and trying to keep a roof over her daughter's head," he added.

"The Supreme Court ordered the father to pay $1,100 a month for child support, but since the order in March of 2002, the man had not made a single payment.

"Over a seven-month period, the woman pressed bailiffs to find the 51-year-old father, and, when finally brought to Family Court on a warrant, he said that he had not supported his child because he had been spending his weekly salary of around $2,000 on drugs and alcohol.

"Mr. Chin then suggested that the father seek drug treatment, without dealing with the issue of non-payment of child support."

Mr. Peniston said he had become very frustrated with the way the case was handled.

And he said he feared for society as so many families were estranged.

"This is where the problem comes in because this man, like many men who do not support their children, are destroying the fabric of our society," added Mr. Peniston.

"These men do not need to be mollycoddled after wilful and flagrant breeches of a Supreme Court Order. When the father made that excuse, Mr. Chin should have called the wagon and have given this man some time to think about his actions in Westgate.

"There are many mothers without representation in the same situation and they are not receiving any respect from the court.

"I feel if after all of this the man was allowed to make an excuse for non-payment and get away with it, there is a problem, and I will never apologise for that."

Mr. Pensiton said nine out of ten young black men who were defendants in court were either products of fathers who never supported them, or were men who did not support their children.