nearly a year, a judge said yesterday.

And it is time he came to terms with the fact, said Supreme Court judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ground.

Mr. Peniston was in court yesterday because Mr. Robert Thomson, his former partner in the glass-bottom boat firm Bermuda Vacations, is trying to have him declared bankrupt.

The hearing has been put off several times since December, and yesterday Mr.

Peniston asked for another adjournment because he did not have a lawyer.

Mr. Justice Ground said he would "with some reluctance'' allow a final adjournment until October 25.

The hearing is expected to last about six days.

Yesterday Mr. Peniston told the court he had funded three earlier hearings and those funds were depleted.

He has now applied for legal aid, he said.

Unlike Mr. Thomson, he did not have "unlimited financial resources''. His argument was about "mishandled and misplaced'' assets, and Mr. Thomson continued to "enjoy the benefit of those assets''.

But Mr. Saul Froomkin, for Mr. Thomson, said it was "preposterous'' to adjourn the case again and unfair to Mr. Thomson and other creditors.

Mr. Peniston was "completely, totally bankrupt'' and was trying to mislead the court about his assets.

Lawyer Mr. Delroy Duncan had come off Mr. Peniston's case in May, and the businessman's delay in applying for legal aid was "scandalous''.

Asked to explain the delay, Mr. Peniston said he was finding it difficult dealing with the "legal sword'' hanging over his head.

He was suffering "economic strangulation'' and had been forced into "fire sales''.

Without a lawyer he was not on a level playing field, he said.

Mr. Froomkin argued that Mr. Peniston was "hopelessly bankrupt'' and was not entitled to delay proceedings for his own purposes.

Mr. Peniston told the judge he wanted to bring witnesses to court, and was prepared to give evidence himself if he had a lawyer.

"I have nothing to hide,'' he added. "I'm trying to get some justice in this place, and if I'm denied that then I will have to consider other opportunities.'' Mr. Justice Ground told him: "You have been technically bankrupt for nearly a year. You should have come to terms with that.'' Every time the case came to court he had not been ready or his documents had been late.

These proceedings were to give him a chance, but he was not "coming to the wicket''.

"Your delay is what has resulted in you not being represented today. It's your responsibility and you can't keep ducking that by blaming (Mr. Thomson).

"Courts have been falling over backwards to make sure you are not being deprived of your rights.'' This was the very last time the hearing would be adjourned, the judge added.