A guest worker and a mechanic have been banned from the roads for 18 months for driving while over the legal blood-alcohol limit.

Appearing in Magistrates’ Court this morning, Sergiu Cazacu, who resides in Hamilton Parish, pleaded guilty to driving while the proportion of alcohol in his blood exceeded the legal limit of 80 milligrams.

The Crown accepted his plea and offered no evidence on the alternative charge of driving while impaired.

The court heard that Cazacu, who works at a hotel in Tucker’s Town, was arrested after police officers attended a single-vehicle road accident on Glebe Road in Devonshire on May 31.

Prosecutor Loxly Ricketts said officers saw a bike on the road with Cazacu lying beside it.

They also saw him attempting to stand up and stumble several times and noticed that his speech was slurred and that he smelled of alcohol.

Cazacu was taken to Hamilton Police Station where a breath test showed that he had 136 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Cazacu apologised to the court and asked Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo if he could keep his licence because he is not able to take the bus to work.

But Mr Tokunbo explained that this offence attracts a mandatory disqualification and said: “Bermuda is a small place — smaller than the place you come from.

“You can do like my brothers do in Africa and run to work.”

Mr Tokunbo handed Cazacu a $1,200 fine and disqualified him from driving all vehicles for 18 months.

In a separate matter, 45-year-old Willoughby Richardson, from St George’s, also pleaded guilty to driving while over the legal blood-alcohol limit.

Mr Ricketts told the court that police officers attended a single-vehicle road accident on Tommy Fox Road in St David’s on May 1. The car was up on the sidewalk, with the front end in the bushes.

When asked if he had been drinking, Richardson said: “I’m not going to lie; I had two beers while I was at home.”

He was taken to Hamilton Police Station, where it was determined that he had 143 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

In court, Richardson, who works as a mechanic, apologised for his “wrong choice” and said that it would never happen again.

He asked Mr Tokunbo if it would be possible for him to keep his heavy truck licence, but Mr Tokunbo reiterated that this offence attracts a mandatory disqualification.

Richardson then said he also works at LF Wade International Airport and added: “I’ll be out of a job because of my bad decision.”

Mr Tokunbo told Richardson that this was a matter for his employer to deal with, handed him a $1,200 fine and disqualified him from driving for 18 months.

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