Log In

Reset Password
BERMUDA | RSS PODCAST

Man banned from road

A 66-year-old Pembroke man arrested on suspicion of drink-driving has been banned from the roads for 12 months after failing to give a breath sample.

Marvin Paynter, who pleaded not guilty to driving while impaired, did admit not having his bike licensed or insured.

Magistrates’ Court heard Paynter was riding a black Schwinn motorcycle along Palmetto Road on August 12 when he crashed into an island resulting in several injuries.

While medics were attending to him, officers said they could smell liquor on his breath, that his eyes were glazed and his speech was slurred.

Asked whether he had been drinking, Paynter told officers: “I was bar hopping and I had several Heinekens.”

When Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo asked the defendant why he had refused to give a breath sample, he replied: “I was so concerned about my bust up leg, I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

He also told the court that his bike registration had expired a week before the incident.

Paynter was fined $800 for refusing to give a breath sample and banned from driving any vehicle for 12 months. He was also fined $1,000 for having no insurance and $250 for having no registration.

• It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding criminal court cases. This is to prevent any statements being published that may jeopardise the outcome of that case.