A drink driver who pretended to be his younger brother after Police found him asleep at the wheel has been jailed for three months.

Dwayne Signor, 25, from Governor’s Alley, St. George’s, was spotted by officers driving his car erratically before stopping in the middle of the road on Sunday, at 3.35 a.m., Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday.

Police went over to Signor’s vehicle, in Middle Road, Southampton, found him asleep and the defendant admitted he had been drinking.

When officers asked who he was, he gave the name of his brother Charles. He was arrested, taken to Hamilton Police Station, where he failed a breath analysis test, and charged with driving while impaired.

However, as he was preparing to leave the Police station, an officer recognised him as Dwayne Signor. He was then further charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.

At court, he admitted both charges before Senior Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo sent him to prison. Crown counsel Cindy Clarke told the court officers had been on duty when they saw Signor’s car.

She said: “The vehicle was observed crossing the central yellow line. It stopped in the middle of the road. When officers went over to it, the defendant appeared to be sleeping.

“He was asked if he had been drinking, and he said ‘yes, two bottles of Heineken’. He said he was going to town but was a little tired.”

Ms. Clarke said Signor was “unsteady on his feet” when officers asked him to get out of his car. When Mr. Tokunbo asked Signor why he had given a false name, the defendant replied: “I was intoxicated and I was tired and I was scared. I don’t know what I was doing.”

Mr. Tokunbo said: “You were thinking about getting somebody else into trouble. You lie and drop your brother in. Your innocent brother gets dropped in and you are about to go and walk out the Police station, thinking you got away with it.”

Signor was handed the prison sentence for perverting the course of justice. For the drink driving offence, he was fined $800 and disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Last month, The Royal Gazette <$>revealed how increasing numbers of driving offenders were giving false names when pulled over by Police.

According to Police, the trend is partly responsible for the growing number of outstanding arrest warrants clogging up Bermuda’s court system.

The backlog of stay-away offenders on the Island is currently nearly 10,000, meaning the Government is potentially missing out on more than $1 million in fine payments.

Officers say the bulk of unexecuted warrants are for traffic offences, with many attempting to dodge court by giving false names when arrested. To tackle the problem, Police called for a law change to force motorists to carry a valid driving licence when on the road.