A 63-year-old man was banned from driving for a year and fined $1,000 after he refused to take a breath test.

Magistrates’ Court heard that police suspected Dennis DeShields had been drinking when he was pulled over on Middle Road, Southampton, last Friday.

DeShields, from Southampton, was charged with impaired driving with an alternative charge of refusing to give a breath test.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo told DeShields that the drink-driving charge carried an 18-month ban, while the breath-test offence meant a 12-month ban.

DeShields pleaded guilty to the breath-test charge.

Mr Tokunbo said: “You picked the right choice.”

He added that DeShields was convicted for a similar offence a little more than two years ago.

Mr Tokunbo said that had it been less than two years, he would have been banned from driving for three years.

• It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding court cases. As we are legally liable for any libellous or defamatory comments made on our website, this move is for our protection as well as that of our readers.