A postman charged with driving while intoxicated pleaded guilty to the offence, telling Magistrates' Court last week he was only guilty of bad breath.

Blair Butterfield, 46, of Paget, told Magistrate Edward King he was sorry that he had to come to court to face the charges, but had only drunk two beers on the night he was arrested.

The court heard that on 11 p.m. on Tuesday, July 27 officers stopped Butterfield on North Shore Road in Hamilton Parish for driving with defective headlights. Officers noticed the smell of alcohol on his breath and detained him, taking him back to Hamilton Police station for a breathalyser test. Butterfield was found to have 119 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. "I know I was not fully impaired, I was fully capable of operating a vehicle," said Butterfield. "I had just had two beers before driving. I think I was only guilty of bad breath. The sad thing is that I am being sentenced by a device that tests my breath and not my ability to operate a vehicle."

Butterfield asked for leniency telling the court that his ability to do his job as a postman relied on being able to drive.

Mr. King told Butterfield there were no exceptions to the rules, ordering him to pay a $1,000 fine. He was disqualified for driving all vehicles for 12 months.