A man who decided to sleep in his car rather than drink-drive has been banned from the roads — because Police spotted he'd left his key in the ignition.

Single dad Devonne Simmons, 31, initially pleaded not guilty to impaired driving and refusing to give a breath sample.

He changed his plea on the second charge to guilty yesterday after Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner remanded him into custody overnight until a trial this morning.

"I can't afford to do that," protested Mr. Simmons, telling the court he would prefer to admit to the offence.

Crown counsel Nicole Smith then withdrew the impaired driving charge.

Outlining the facts according to the prosecution, she told Mr. Warner that Police spotted Simmons' Opel Astra car stationary in the middle of South Shore Road, near the entrance to Elbow Beach Hotel, at 4.12 a.m. on December 13, 2007.

"They noticed a male in the driver's seat. He appeared to be sleeping and there was a strong smell of intoxicants emanating from the car.

"After much difficulty, the officers managed to wake him up to see if he was alright and to identify him," she said.

According to Ms Smith, when Simmons was asked if he had consumed alcohol, he replied: "No, I don't drink."

The prosecutor said the defendant agreed to provide a sample of breath for analysis, giving one at Hamilton Police Station but not complying with instructions to provide a second and third.

Simmons disputed this account of events, telling Mr. Warner that the breath-testing equipment failed when he attempted to give the second and third samples and he was told by a Police officer this was not his fault. He claimed the arresting officer had not wished to book him over either matter but was instructed to do so by a Sergeant.

"I was not driving the car but just because the keys were in there the Sergeant told me he had to charge me.

"I was drinking, I knew I could not drive, so I pulled the car over and went to sleep instead of driving and hitting a wall or somebody else," he said.

However, he acknowledged that he did have care and control of the vehicle in the eyes of the law.

Mr. Warner said he would take this into account, but an offence had been committed nonetheless. He fined Simmons $1,000, disqualified him from driving for 12 months and gave him ten demerit points.

Any further offences, he warned, could lead to more demerit points and additional time off the roads.