?I did not hear the siren ?cause I was hot!? a drunk driver ? who was almost three-and-a-half times over the legal limit ? told Police when he was stopped last month a Magistrate heard yesterday.

Before charges were even laid against Leroy Bean, 55, from St. George, he started explaining to Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner that he was ?hot? ? using slang for being drunk. Mr. Warner barely got a word in edgewise as Bean continued explaining about the events that day. Mr. Warner had to interrupt him to read the charges.

Bean was adamant that he was not guilty of failing to stop for police, adding that he just could not hear the sirens. ?I did not hear the siren ?cause I was hot!? he said. Laughter erupted and another traffic violator in court leaned over and asked: ?How hot were you??

Mr. Warner explained he could not plead ?not guilty? to failing to stop on those grounds. Throwing his hands in the air, Bean changed his plea. On the charges of driving while intoxicated, Bean said he was on his way to his wheelchair-bound son who had called him that afternoon and asked for help. Crown counsel Cindy Clarke told the court that Bean was chased by Police across the causeway after he failed to stop for speeding along Kindley Field Road on February 12.

She said Bean had been travelling at 65 kmh and failed to stop when an officer jumped into the road and tried to wave him down. Ms Clarke said Police then chased Bean across the Causeway with their sirens blaring before he finally pulled over.

It was then, she said, that Police noticed that Bean was also intoxicated. She said besides having 260 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, Bean was also found to be driving without a licence on an uninsured motorcycle and failed to have his helmet properly fastened. The legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

The helmet ?was tied when I left St. George?s so it must have come undone somehow. I don?t know,? Bean told the court ? to even more laughter. Still looking serious, Bean waited patiently as Mr. Warner fined him a total of $2,900 for the various fines and disqualified him from driving all vehicles for 12 months ? the mandatory penalty. Bean asked for time to pay the fines.