An accused man now knows the fine points of the Motor Car Act after a lengthy legal discussion yesterday between a judge, lawyer, and prosecutor.

Senior Magistrate Will Francis, Prosecutor Sgt. Phil Taylor, and duty counsel Tyrone Chin launched into a near-hour long examination of whether someone sitting on a cycle has it in his "care and control''.

They were discussing the fate of Robin Simmons, 36, of Cloverdale Estate, Smith's Parish, who pleaded guilty to having the care and control of an auxiliary cycle while his ability to drive was impaired by alcohol or drugs.

Simmons also admitted having 148 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Junior Crown counsel Veronica Gordon told Mr. Francis Police went to an "incident'' involving Simmons on North Shore Road, Devonshire at 10 p.m. on November 2 last year.

Officers found him sitting on a Honda City Express which had been hot wired and ready to be ridden away.

Ms Gordon said Simmons admitted the cycle belonged to him and he had used it to travel to see someone who owed him money.

Police noted his breath smelled strongly of alcohol, his eyes were glazed, and he was unsteady on his feet.

Simmons admitted he had two Guinnesses and three Carlsberg Elephant beers.

When Simmons was told he would be arrested, he said: "But I wasn't even riding the bike!'' Yesterday he told the court he had hotwired the cycle to see if it worked after receiving the cycle from its owner, saying: "He was going to trash it.

I sat on it in the parking lot of the Amis Funeral Home, rolled a cigarette, and then the Police came.'' In the end, Mr. Francis explained he had been assured that a 1997 amendment to the 1948 Road Traffic Act had removed any distinction of whether a vehicle had to be on a thoroughfare for a driver to be legally impaired.

During the discussion, Sgt. Taylor stood and told Mr. Francis: "A car park can certainly be classed and construed as a road. But you have to actually be on a road for the section 35 of the Act for impaired driving.'' Sgt. Taylor had to leave the court to get an updated version of the law and legal sources to prove parts of a parking lot had been deemed a road by the Privy Council.

Mr. Francis agreed and in answer to a point by Mr. Chin that such an interpretation could be taken to an extreme, Mr. Francis said: "Yes, I suppose so. But I think the aim of the law was to keep people away from their vehicle. Wherever they are.'' He fined Simmons $300 and disqualified him from driving all motor vehicles for one year.

Will Francis