Motorcyclist: I only had one Guinness

A motorcyclist who insisted he had only “one Guinness” before crashing his bike was more than twice over the legal drink-drive limit, a court heard on Thursday.

Paul Defontes, 41, of Sandy Croft Heights, Southampton, admitted driving a vehicle while the proportion of alcohol in 100ml of his blood was in excess of 80mg at Magistrates' Court.

Crown counsel Oonagh Vaucrosson told the court that a breath sample given by Defontes to Police had a reading of 176mg in 100ml of blood.

She said an officer who attended the two-vehicle accident at the junction of South Road and Lighthouse Road in Southampton on January 19 spoke to Defontes who “constantly repeated himself”. His breath smelt of alcohol though he insisted he had just one Guinness.

Delfontes told the court: “On the day in question I just left my job. It was a shocking time. I was upset.”

He said he believed he had passed the breath test and had signed a form noting the 176mg reading without really knowing what he was doing. “I was stressed out; I didn't properly read it,” he said.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner told him: “The fact is that the maximum is 80 and you read 176 - more than double the amount. If that was a pint of Guinness you had, it must have affected your head.” He fined Defontes $1,000 and banned him from driving for a year.

Sandys man banned from driving for year

A motorcyclist stopped by Police was so drunk he fell into an officer's arms, a court heard on Thursday.

Andrew Selders, 52, was spotted riding a silver motorcycle on the road where he lives, Elm Lane, in Sandys, at 12.45 a.m. on January 19.

Crown counsel Oonagh Vaucrosson told Magistrates' Court that the bike was being driven in a “stuttered” and “erratic” manner. She added: “His speech was slurred, his eyes were glazed and his breath smelt of alcohol. He walked and fell into one of the officer's arms. He said he had had a few.”

A breath test given by Selders, who pleaded guilty to driving while impaired and had no previous convictions, found he had 231mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.