An irate car-owner is obeying a court order to the letter - or in this case to the last penny.

Keith Trott was ordered to pay $3,000 in legal costs to garage Rayclan Ltd. after he unsuccessfully took the company to court and yesterday he delivered the payment entirely in small change.

Mr. Trott, the owner of Shannon's clothing store in Windsor Place, took Rayclan to court over alleged damage to his car. He valued those damages at $3,000.

Mr. Trott got a shock, however, when Magistrate Edward King instead ruled that Mr. Trott would have to pay Rayclan the $3,000 in compensation for the time and legal fees that he had allegedly wasted in bringing the matter to court.

In response, Mr. Trott claimed he has been driven to follow the court order to the letter. Employees at Rayclan refused to comment on the matter.

“Coins are legal tender,” Mr. Trott said as he dropped change into a PureWater container on Wednesday.

The total number of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies needed to make up the $3,000 is about 18,000, Mr. Trott estimated. He said that he took his car to Rayclan in August, 2001 to get it repaired after an accident, and to have the entire car sprayed. He was told the car would be ready within a week.

Instead, Mr. Trott claims, he embarked on a three-month odyssey which he claims involved a bad spray job, scratches and paint splatters on the car, cuts in the moulding, dents not completely removed, brakes not fixed, and wheels threatening to fall off before he had a heated discussion with Rayclan employees. That was when Mr. Trott decided to go to court.

Armed with notes he says were made as events occurred, Mr. Trott represented himself in court. Rayclan's lawyer was Mark Diel of Marshall, Diel & Myers.

Mr. Trott said he soon realised that he had made a mistake in not employing counsel when he came under fire from Mr. King.

“How does he get away with calling people names?” asked Candace Trott, Mr. Trott's wife.

However Rayclan's lawyer Mark Diel said: “I don't think Mr. King was rude. He made certain findings against Mr. Trott and that was the end of it.”

Mr. King ruled that the documentation Mr. Trott had was inadmissible as it was not all made as events occurred, and he refused to look at the damaged car.

“He said we were trying to rip them off,” said Mr. Trott.

Mr. King then ruled that Mr. Trott would have to pay for Rayclan's legal fees and time, which he estimated at $3,000 - the same amount that Mr. Trott was suing Rayclan for.

“I got one moulding out of it,” said Mr. Trott. “It's $5 to install a moulding. I haven't received it yet.” Mr. Trott paid the ordered amount yesterday, sending one of his sales representatives escorted by security officers to Rayclan with the money.

Rayclan, he said, will not give him a receipt until the money is counted. And the Bank of Bermuda, where the money is now, will not count the money until it is in wrappers.

However the money cannot be put into wrappers at present, said Mr. Trott, as he was informed that the Bank of Bermuda do not currently possess a sorting machine.

“Hey, I paid it,” he said. “Rayclan can deal with it now.”