A man charged with driving under the influence told a Magistrate he should not be convicted as he was pushing his motorcycle along the road at the time, not riding it.

Steven Dill, 48, was arrested after an accident at St. Monica's Road and East Gate Lane, Pembroke, on January 2 at 3.30 a.m.

He was just yards from his home, pushing his bike along the road when it was in collision with a taxi.

Crown Counsel Larissa Burgess said when Police officers arrived they found Dill's bike "lying on a pillar". The bike had front minor damage but Dill was uninjured.

She said: "Officers smelled alcohol on his breath and his speech was slurred."

When asked whether he had been drinking, Dill said: "Yes, I had a couple of vodkas." He was seen looking for something on the ground, which he told officers was his bike key but on searching him, they found it on his person.

Dill told Police: "I live right here, let me go home." But officers took him to Hamilton Police Station where a breath test showed he was more than twice over the limit, with 209 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, the legal limit being 80.

Yesterday Dill pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court to driving without care and control. He told the court: "I was just down the hill from my house, I was never on a main road."

He said he was dazzled by the "high beams" of the taxi's lights.

"These lights, it affects your ability to see for a couple of seconds," said Dill. "But I was cool, I was home, I was in my yard."

But he added: "I don't feel I should even be here and pleading guilty. That's wrong. I was walking my bike, I was pushing the bike, that's what happened."

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner told him: "The court is not wrong. The law with regards to these impaired offences includes if you're in care and control of a vehicle – which includes walking a cycle with a key.

"The whole aim of the law is to separate you from a vehicle."

Dill said: "I'm walking up in my alley to my house. I wasn't even riding it, the key wasn't in the ignition or nothing. I am being penalised.

"I plead not guilty because I wasn't even riding that bike."

Mr. Warner set a trial date for April 22.