A woman arrested for impaired driving claimed she was held in a "filthy isolation cell''.

Judith Corrine Lake, 44, of Studio Lane, Hamilton Parish, said she was denied food and water for nine hours.

Lake was just one of four people to appear in Magistrates' Court on drunk driving charges on Friday.

All were slapped with the same penalty -- a $1,000 fine and one year driving ban -- by Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner.

Lake complained of the conditions of her arrest and detention at Hamilton Police Station on September 2. The cell "stunk to high heaven'', she added.

"I'm totally at fault for this, I accept that. I complied with everything they asked me to do.

"At one point a gentleman came in wearing a white shirt and said `with numbers like that, she's going to do some time, lock her up'. I know it's not a hotel but people don't need to be subjected to that.'' Lake explained she had sought counselling for her drinking.

Crown Counsel Charmaine Smith said she was nearly three times over the legal limit of 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Lake had a reading of 236 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

After she appealed for some driving privileges, Mr. Warner explained the law.

He said: "I've listened carefully to what you've had to say. That's not a matter for me. There is a complaints system that you can lodge which will be looked in to.

"One thousand dollars is the going rate now -- its standard,'' he continued.

"The Road Traffic Act now says there is no discretion for this offence. It's a mandatory disqualification.'' Meanwhile, Canadian tourist Jason Loren Kerr left $1,000 in Bermuda -- but he did not spend it in the stores like most vacationers do.

Kerr was fined after he pleaded guilty to impaired riding and was banned from riding all motor vehicles in Bermuda for one year.

Just hours after he was arrested, Kerr appeared before Mr. Warner, admitting he was riding a livery cycle on Pitts Bay Road while nearly two times over the limit.

Kerr, 31, of Vancouver, British Columbia, was swerving about the road and his helmet was unfastened.

He questioned Police if he "had to'' provide a sample and was told that failure to provide a sample -- whether guilty of impaired driving or not -- still constituted an offence.

Joao Carvahlo, of Frithholme Gardens, Devonshire, admitted drunk driving on September 18.

Police followed him as he drove through Warwick, nearly causing an accident.

Carvahlo, who is from Portugal, was questioned by Mr. Warner through his sister-in-law.

Police conducted their normal duties through an interpreter at Hamilton Police Station -- once Carvahlo spoke to them in "broken English''.

Mr. Warner had to explain it was his "duty to find out if he understands the charges put to him'' adding: "How did he get a license if he doesn't speak English?'' And Blasariel Mendoza Reniva -- whose nationality is not known and did not appear to speak English well -- also pleaded guilty to impaired driving at two times over the limit.

Reniva, 38, of South Shore Paget, had a fender bender with a taxi on September 20 at The Lane, Paget.

He told Police afterward: "The only thing I can say is I was not real familiar with the road and I was driving slow. I didn't think I drunk too much.''