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Pair slapped with drink drive bans

Two men who admitted drink driving were fined $1,500 and slapped with a 12-month driving ban.Douglas Lang, 29, of Devonshire yesterday pleaded guilty to driving with more than the legal limit of alcohol in his blood and Narisiman Chittibabu, 43, of Smiths pleaded guilty to impaired driving.Prosecutor Susan Mulligan said Lang was stopped by police officers the evening of August 31 on Berry Hill Road in Paget because he was swerving across the road on his motorcycle. The officers smelled alcohol on his breath and noticed his speech was slurred.When they asked if he had been drinking, Lang said “Yes, I had one or maybe two glasses of wine.”A breath sample showed Lang had 122mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, about 40mg over the legal limit.In a separate incident, police were called to the scene of a single vehicle accident on Devon Lane early in the morning of September 2. The officers found Chittibabu standing near a motorcycle and a man lying on the ground, who was breathing but unconscious. The unconscious man had been Chittibabu’s pillion passenger, Ms Mulligan said.The police officers noticed Chittibabu’s speech was slurred and he was unsteady on his feet.Chittibabu failed to provide a proper breath sample despite agreeing to the officer’s request for one.Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner disqualified both defendants from driving all vehicles for 12 months.