A driver whose car hit a tree before flipping over was banned from the roads for 18 months yesterday after admitting to drink driving.

Patrick Abuyulan, 35, pleaded guilty to the offence during a virtual Magistrates’ Court hearing.

The court heard that police attended a single-vehicle collision on Harbour Road, at its junction with Pomander Road, in Paget.

Officers saw an overturned car that was extensively damaged after hitting a tree.

They spoke with two people at the scene, who were being treated for their injuries by medical personnel.

Abuluyan identified himself as the driver and identified the other person as his passenger.

When asked if he had been drinking, he told officers “I had two Heinekens and two shots of Hennessey”.

Abuluyan and the passenger were taken to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for further treatment.

Officers then arrested him on suspicion of drink driving and took him to the Hamilton Police Station where they demanded a sample of breath for analysis.

Abuluyan agreed to take the test, but the amount of alcohol in his blood was not read out in court.

The incident took place on April 2.

Abuluyan, from Smiths, told magistrate Craig Attridge that he was a mechanic and asked that he be allowed to keep his licence.

But Mr Attridge said he had no discretion when it came to road bans and disqualified him from driving for 18 months.

He also fined Abuluyan $1,000 and ordered him to pay by May 27.

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