A man convicted of his third drink-driving offence in two years was this morning given a suspended prison sentence, and banned from driving for three years.

Roger Spencer, 48, pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court to driving on Front Street while impaired less than a month after returning to the road.

Prosecutor Susan Mulligan told the court that at around 3am today, officers were on duty on Front Street when they noticed Spencer and another man “staggering” together down the sidewalk.

As the officers looked on, the men climbed into a parked truck and drove away in an eastern direction. The officers saw the vehicle briefly swerve into the wrong lane before pulling back across the line.

The officers stopped the truck near the junction with King Street and noticed that Spencer, who was behind the wheel, was slurring his words and smelled strongly of alcohol. Asked if he had been drinking, Spencer responded: “Yes, but I’m just trying to take my mate here home.”

He was arrested and, despite initially agreeing to submit to a breath test, he refused once at the Hamilton Police Station.

Appearing in court just hours after his arrest, he apologised saying that he was trying to make sure his drunken friend got home safely.

“It was a bad decision on my behalf,” he added.

The court then heard that Spencer was convicted last March after refusing to provide police with a breath sample — and convicted eight days after that of impaired driving in connection to a completely separate incident.

As a result of those conviction, he had been banned from all vehicles until September 14 this year and still owes the court around $2,000 in fines.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner expressed concern about Spencer’s previous convictions for charges connected to drinking and driving, saying: “You have been fined for these offences. You have been disqualified. You haven’t paid the fines yet and you are before the court again for the same thing.”

Mr Warner sentenced Spencer to three months behind bars, but suspended that sentence for a period of two years, warning the defendant that the sentence would be activated if he returns to the court with another offence.

He further banned the defendant from driving all vehicles for a period of three years, fined him $2,000 and ordered that he pay $1,500 towards his outstanding fines immediately.

• Editor’s note: On occasion The Royal Gazette may decide to not allow comments on what we consider to be a controversial or contentious story. As we are legally liable for any defamatory comments made on our website, this move is for our protection as well as that of our readers.