turned him in to Police last year for firearms possession.

He was bound over to keep the peace for six months after he admitted gripping his married daughter Kristina Viera, 23, by the wrists and slapping her in the face.

Ending a nightmare which could have seen him jailed, Viera, 59, changed his original not-guilty plea and was brought before Senior Magistrate the Wor.

Will Francis last Wednesday morning on short notice, court records showed.

Magistrates' Court heard the assault took place late in the night last November 15 during a father-daughter confrontation.

Kristina Viera, who had a "strained'' relationship with her father, had entered his Paget home without his permission, the records said.

A disagreement broke out during which he assaulted her.

She fled the house and reported the incident to Police along with the fact he kept a stash of guns. She suffered no cuts or bruising as a result.

The court heard she had avoided contact with her businessman father ever since.

Viera was represented by lawyer Mr. Alan Dunch and the case was prosecuted by Insp. Peter Duffy.

A May 23 trial date was originally set down by the magistrate last December when Viera was fined a total of $4,000 after admitting possession of a Smith and Wesson revolver and ammunition, electric stun gun, two canisters of "pepper defence'' spray and a flare pistol.

Viera, a former United Bermuda Party and Independent MP who was hailed as a law and order champion, could have been jailed.

Mr. Dunch had appealed for Viera to be spared prison and several MPs spoke on his behalf.

He said there was no evidence Viera owned the revolver -- acquired in the late 1960s -- for criminal purposes.

His client had become paranoid following repeated threats of violence, he said.

The magistrate, the Wor. Cheryl-Ann Mapp, had remarked that Viera had committed the offence over a long period and it would have gone undetected if his daughter had not reported him to Police.

Harry Viera.