The owner of The Palace nightclub is to to sue the Liquor Licensing Authority for loss of income after it controversially stripped him of his licence.

And Ed Bailey, the lawyer for Palace owner John Kiernan, is urging the Governor and Chief Justice to read a court ruling which heavily criticised acting Authority chairman Edward King for his `biased' behaviour when he turned down an application to have the nightclub licence renewed.

It may add to pressure on Governor Thorold Masefield and Chief Justice Austin Ward to sack Mr. King.

Last month, the Bar Association met Mr. Justice Ward and presented a file of ten complaints from lawyers at the Magistrates' Court alleging Mr. King is rude, does not take proper case notes, and tries to appeal to defendants over the heads of their lawyers.

The Bar Association is to write to the Chief Justice to find out if any action has been taken if it has not had a response by the time of its next meeting next month.

Mr. Kiernan had been without a nightclub licence for his premises on Reid Street, Hamilton, since May 28 after the Licensing Authority refused to renew the licence.

The club remained open, but had not been able to sell alcohol or operate as a nightclub, leading to staff being laid off and heavy losses for Mr. Kiernan.

During a site visit for the application, Mr. King "measured" the dance floor with his feet and decided it was too small at 80 square feet. An engineer later did a professional measurement and found it was 278 square feet.

Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux overturned the ruling in a judicial review on July 12 and ordered the licence be reinstated, agreeing Mr. King's behaviour was biased and his "measurements" should not have been accepted as evidence.

But, according to Mr. Bailey, Mr. King refused to reinstate the licence because he thought he still had discretion, forcing the Palace to apply to have him cited for contempt of court.

Mr. Bailey said Mr. Justice Meerabux gave Mr. King one more chance to comply at a hearing last Thursday or it was very likely he would cite Mr. King for contempt of court.

Mr. King finally caved in on Wednesday afternoon after taking advice from Solicitor General Wilhelm Bourne, said Mr. Bailey, and reinstated the licence.

Mr. Bailey told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "I would not like to make this personal, but Mr. King's behaviour is highly unusual, and the people in authority should take note of it.

"My client is still assessing the financial impact, but it was huge given that this was the high season. Not only that, but staff lost their jobs.

"We have succeeded in getting full costs, and the issue of damages (against the Board) is very likely to be pursued when the damages have been quantified.

Mr. King could not be contacted for comment yesterday.