A man was banned from the roads for 18 months in Magistrates’ Court yesterday after he admitted driving while over the legal limit following a party.

Kanel Johnson, from Devonshire, was also fined $1,500 for the offence when he appeared before magistrate Maria Sofianos.

The 45-year-old apologised to the court and added: “It’s just a bad mistake on my part and not something that I usually do.

“It just happened — my intent was not to drive impaired.”

He said he had just “happened to be out that night at a party”.

Ms Sofianos replied: “One-off mistakes can cost you severely.”

Audley Quallo, for the Crown, said police on patrol in Hamilton at 2.30am on July 28 observed a car on Reid Street drive through a red light.

They followed as the vehicle turned on to Court Street and proceeded to Front Street, where officers signalled for the car to pull over.

Police, who found Johnson in the car alone, arrested him after noticing a smell of alcohol and observing that he had slurred speech.

At Hamilton Police Station, after two breath tests, Johnson’s lowest reading showed 151 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

The legal limit for driving in Bermuda is 80mg per 100ml.

Johnson, who had no previous convictions, admitted to driving while over the legal limit.

Asked if he had any issues with alcohol, Johnson said: “It was just something that transpired. It’s not something that I do on a regular basis.”

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