vehicles for one year after pleading guilty to driving with excess alcohol in his blood.

David Elliott Durham, 25, of Sound View Road pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol at Crow Lane on February 12 but guilty to driving while the amount of alcohol in his blood exceeded 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres.

Crown counsel Graveney Bannister dropped the first charge and only offered evidence on the second count.

Durham was stopped by officers conducting random checks and they noticed he was unsteady on his feet and his breath smelled strongly of intoxicants.

He was arrested and taken to Hamilton Police station where the lowest reading obtained from a breath test was 165 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, more than twice the legal limit.

Durham said he was a truck driver and needed his licence for his livelihood.

He added he sometimes drank to let off steam.

He then motioned to Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner and said: "You have got fancy golf courses to do that sort of thing, what are we supposed to do?'' After he had been sentenced, he asked how he was supposed to get work, to which Mr. Warner replied: "I can be rude like you and say it is none of my business.'' Durham was given until the end of November to pay his fine or serve 120 days default.