A Southampton man's "celebrations" before going to Jamaica with the Bermuda Regiment proved costly in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Gladwin Edward Robinson, 21, of Granaway Heights, pleaded not guilty to driving while impaired but admitted to having more than the legal limit of alcohol in his system yesterday in Magistrates' Court.

The court heard from Crown counsel Paula Tyndale, that on April 19, Police officers were on duty conducting speed checks on Cavendish Road when Robinson was stopped for speeding at 68 kph. Officers could smell alcohol on the 21-year-old and conducted a number of sobriety tests, which he could not complete.

Robinson was taken to the Hamilton Police Station were samples of his breath were taken. The breathalyser test revealed he had 166 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80.

Asked if he had anything to say, Robinson told Acting Senior Magistrate Juan Wolffe: "I was supposed to go on the Jamaica trip the next day so I was celebrating. I was trying to have my fun before I left."

The magistrate asked if he had a drinking problem and Robinson said no.

He was fined $1,000, given ten demerit points and a one-year driving ban.