A Devonshire man who took a motorcycle without consent insisted he’d only done so because it was sitting derelict in his grandmother’s yard.

Jerry Williams said the bike was put on the property sometime last year.

“The bike has been there since 2012. It needed to be removed,” the 49-year-old said. “It was derelict. It was abandoned. [My granny] was too old to move it herself.

“I tried to explain it to police, but either they failed their GED or they were playing the devil’s advocate. They had no intention to listening to what I had to say. They just wanted to lock me up.”

Magistrates’ Court heard officers spotted Williams “walking hastily” along Marsh Folly Road in Pembroke just before 1pm on February 8.

He was pushing a black Honda with an expired licence plate at the time.

Asked if he owned it, Williams told the officers that a woman who worked at Gorham’s told him he could take it.

Police contacted the vehicle’s registered owner, who said she had not given anyone permission to remove the bike from her home on North Shore Road.

The officers warned Williams that he was going to be arrested for taking the vehicle.

He ran off, jumping down an embankment and making good his escape. He was arrested earlier this month at his Derwent Lane home.

Yesterday he pleaded guilty to the offence, telling the court that he owned a motorcycle, a jet ski and a boat, and had no need for a derelict motorcycle.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner responded: “If you have all that, you can pay a fine.”

Mr Warner ordered Williams to pay a $1,000 fine or spend 30 days in jail.

Williams said he didn’t have the money and would rather take time in prison.