A 42-year-old Smith’s man was today fined and banned from the roads for 18 months for drink-driving.

Luis Cardoso Machado pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court to driving in Paget while impaired.

The court heard that police officer were standing next to a car at the Ice Queen parking lot at about 3.40am on September 2 when they saw Machado get in the vehicle and attempt to reverse.

The officers shouted at him to stop because there where two people standing behind the car.

But Machado attempted to reverse again and one of the officers reached into the car and turned off the engine.

The officer noticed that the defendant appeared to have been drinking — although Machado denied it.

But he later told officers that he’d “only had one beer”.

A breath test showed he had 209 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood — more than twice the legal limit of 80 milligrams.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo, in addition to the driving ban, fined Machado $1,200.

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