But Thomas Sam's lawyer, Kon Papanicolaou, said the comments were made in a ''jovial and joking fashion'' and Sam had no thoughts of suicide. He said Sam had told him he loved his wife, Manju Sam, and wanted to ''be here'' for his family.

The couple's sentencing hearing for their daughter's manslaughter was delayed in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday while Thomas Sam appeared in Sydney's Central Local Court.

Police alleged that on June 30 he threatened to cause injury to his solicitor Peter Karp, all lawyers and his trial judge on ''account of a thing lawfully done by them as a judicial officer''. But Mr Papanicolaou told the magistrate Sam would be ''vigorously'' defending the matter.

''It is a situation whereby a man who was venting his stress with his solicitor mentioned, 'You've all made me a criminal. I may as well kill myself','' he said.

Last month, the couple were found guilty of the manslaughter of their nine-month-old daughter Gloria by failing to get her medical treatment before her May 2002 death.

When yesterday's hearing before Justice Peter Johnson was over, prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC asked the judge to recommend that authorities keep a close watch on Thomas Sam given the ''kill myself'' comment.

But Mr Papanicolaou said Sam told him he had no thoughts of suicide.

Justice Johnson said he could not ignore the situation and made the recommendation as requested.

Earlier, Mr Tedeschi argued the couple, who showed a ''profound lack of empathy'' for Gloria's suffering, should receive a jail term.

He said their ''prolonged failure'' to get her proper medical help was ''inexcusable and their moral culpability is very high''.

In opposing a custodial term for Manju Sam, her barrister, Tom Mollomby SC, said she had not realised the seriousness of the situation.

References indicated she was a ''good, caring, moral person''.

Justice Johnson continued her bail and adjourned her husband's sentencing hearing to August 13. AAP