A 23-year-old who drove around a roundabout in the wrong direction while impaired by drink has been fined and banned from the road.

Garon Williams, of Ord Road, Paget, was found to have crack cocaine in his car when he was stopped and the vehicle was searched.

Crown counsel Paula Tyndale told Magistrates? Court yesterday that Police saw a car veering across Trimingham Road in the early hours of April 9. It then negotiated a roundabout in the wrong direction as it headed westbound along South Road, said Ms Tyndale.

It was stopped near the junction of Tribe Road Number Two in Paget. Officers smelt cannabis smoke in the car and Williams appeared nervous, smelt of intoxicating liquor and was unsteady on his feet. The Police noticed an open bottle of beer in the car, but Williams told them that he had not been drinking. When he was arrested and searched they found a paper twist containing 0.31 grams of crack cocaine in his trouser pocket and a $1 US note containing 0.15 grams of crack on the driver?s seat. A test showed that Williams had 122mg of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

In a statement, he claimed that he had found the twist of crack outside the Spinning Wheel nightclub and had picked it up to use to pay for renting his car. Yesterday, he pleaded guilty to one count of possessing cocaine and one of driving while impaired. Ms Tyndale told the court that he had no previous convictions for narcotics, but one for impaired driving. Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo handed Williams an 18-month conditional discharge for the drugs matter, with a condition that he must abstain from alcohol and drugs and submit to regular tests. For the impaired driving charge, he fined him $1,000 and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.