Paediatrician George Miller, who faces a jail sentence in the US for violating probation, is hoping to overturn his conviction for having unlawful sex with a 15-year-old girl, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

Before boarding a flight from Bermuda to the US yesterday, Dr. Miller pleaded with the courts in Florida to allow him and his teenage wife -- the victim of the sex offence -- to continue to live together.

In 1997, Dr. Miller, 32, pleaded no contest in Florida to having sex with the girl who is now his wife and was given two years of community service and six years of probation.

In the US, the age of consent is 18. But it is an offence for a person over 25 to have sex with anyone under 18.

Dr. Miller breached his probation conditions by moving to Jamaica one month into his sentence. The girl followed him and they married when she was aged 15 in Trinidad.

Yesterday, federal marshals from the US Justice Department escorted Dr. Miller on a flight from Bermuda to Miami via Atlanta after he agreed to waive extradition proceedings and return voluntarily.

Dr. Miller, who worked for two years at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, was to be briefly held in custody at the Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale yesterday before being released on bail, having posted bond of $30,000.

In his first interview about the case, Dr. Miller told The Royal Gazette before leaving the Island: "I'm feeling OK. My wife and I are both adults and are legally married and we're expecting a good result.

" People here have treated us very well. People who know us know we are very loving and they have done good for us while we've been here.

"We just want to be together and live as a husband and wife should. I think that if you ask any husband or any wife how far they would go to be with their husband or wife, I'm sure they would say they would do anything for the love they have.

"I don't know what the prospects are. It's up to the courts and the attorneys to work it out, but I just hope they understand the situation between a husband and a wife and let us be together.'' His attorney in Fort Lauderdale, John Howes, told The Royal Gazette that Dr.

Miller was hoping to have the unlawful sex conviction set aside, resulting in a trial.

He alleged that the mother of Dr. Miller's wife had forced the teenager to press charges out of jealousy. He said Dr. Miller had previously had a relationship with his wife's mother.

He said Dr. Miller had not knowingly and voluntarily entered the plea of no contest and was given inaccurate advice about the consequences of the plea.

Doctor departs And he revealed that Dr. Miller will contest the violation of probation charge, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 45 years.

He said Dr. Miller had left the US on the advice of his former attorney. The attorney had advised him he could leave for Jamaica, but in fact the doctor required written permission from a judge.

"The mother insisted on the prosecution,'' Mr. Howes said. "It is the story of a woman spurned. Dr. Miller's wife has made it quite clear that her mother made her go forward with these charges and testify.

"The girl's grandmother came over to Bermuda to support the doctor and her granddaughter and she is furious about her daughter forcing this case.

"I would expect litigation about the charges as well as the prosecution of the charges. This won't be a case where someone rolls over and plays dead.

"We will ask if we can set aside the plea, saying it was not given freely, voluntarily and knowingly.

"The doctor was not given appropriate legal advice when he entered the plea and did not know what would happen. If we are successful, there will be a trial.'' Dr. Miller was accompanied by his wife on the flight yesterday. A hearing date has been set in Broward County Courthouse on December 27 and he will be tried on the probation violation charges in January or February.

Venous Telford, Dr. Miller's lawyer in Bermuda, said the paediatrician would not be returning to the Island, regardless of the outcome in Florida.