A man nearly twice over the drunk-driving limit claimed he only gave a positive reading because he downed some hot sauce after getting stopped by Police.

Damon Anderson recoiled in shock and insisted he was not guilty yesterday when Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner told him he was facing a charge of impaired driving.

However, after Mr. Warner dismissed Anderson's argument that he had simply been the victim of a "crazy night", the defendant changed his plea to guilty.

Crown Counsel Cindy Clarke said Anderson, 37, was spotted swerving his car along Sun Valley Drive, Warwick, at 4 a.m. on Sunday, August 17, last year.

After Police stopped him, they noticed he was unsteady on his feet and his breath smelled of alcohol.

He told them he had three glasses of wine and gave a breath test which showed 157 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, against a legal limit of 80 milligrams.

Hearing the charge at Magistrates' Court yesterday, Anderson, of Shore Hill Lane, St. George's, said: "I beg your pardon? Not guilty," and added that he thought he was answering to a speeding ticket.

"This is just a crazy night. God have mercy," he continued as he shook his head in apparent disbelief.

He then asked for time to talk to the Police officer who arrested him, which Mr. Warner declined. Anderson then admitted he was guilty.

Giving his account of the incident, the defendant said: "This gentleman (Police officer) pulled out. He definitely knows me. I have become a target for him.

"He told me to go and drop this lady at home. When I got back Sun Valley, he stopped me. He followed me to Southampton Rangers and back to Sun Valley. I was just getting a lot of flak.

"I took a bottle of hot sauce. I was so angry I slammed this hot sauce. I said: 'Let's take the test now'. It showed up the hot sauce.

"I had three glasses of wine. I wasn't drunk. Just have some leniency on me. This has been a trivial trial from the beginning."

Mr. Warner fined him $1,000, disqualified him from driving all vehicles for 12 months and awarded ten demerit points against his licence.

Anderson was given a further $215 fine and five demerit points for a speeding offence on November 29 last year.