A landlady ordered to pay $10,000 after she took money off prospective tenants and locked them out is to lodge a complaint against her treatment by Magistrate Edward King.

And she is refusing to pay up until she gets a fair hearing.

In a written judgment on the case last week, Magistrate Ed King slammed Cheryl Ann Griffin for her "reprehensible and monstrous actions".

However, Mrs. Griffin says the same could be said of Mr. King who she said had called her names, shouted her down and tried to intimidate her and her supporters.

She says the case had started badly and got worse after she asked for a complaint about his behaviour to be part of the court record.

Mrs. Griffin is about to file papers for an official complaint to the Chief Justice, via the Supreme Court registry.

She said: "I am seeking an inquiry into this man's behaviour. I am a law abiding citizen. It's not about the case so much ? it's about the treatment."

Mrs. Griffin said she feared Mr. King's behaviour might have been because she has a relative high up in the legal system. "He kept saying 'I don't care who you are'."

She also said he made disparaging general remarks about landlords throughout.

She is also appealing the judgement which awarded her tenants Nikola Alaica, Alastair Bedingfield, John Wallace and Krista Osterin cash after Mrs. Griffin was judged to have held their belongings to ransom and taken money off them while barring them from the house.

In 2001 a dossier of complaints about Mr.King was delivered to Chief Justice Austin Ward from the Bar Association. Lawyers claimed Mr. King was rude to them and members of the public.

However MrKing was given another one-year contract after reaching the official retirement age last August.