A 17-year-old Smith's man has been fined $2,000 and prohibited from driving for two years after he was caught behind the wheel of his mother's car while drunk.

Nicholas Chilvers pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court to driving while disqualified by reason of age and driving with an excess of alcohol in his system.

It was the second drunk-driving offence for Chilvers, who pleaded guilty less than a year ago to driving a motorcycle while under the influence.

Crown counsel Maria Sofianos told the court that Chilvers was stopped on March 8 by Police at 3.10 a.m. near Brighton Hill, on South Road, in Smith's, after officers noticed that his car was stopping periodically.

Ms Sofianos added that the car Chilvers was driving was owned by his mother and that he may have taken it without her permission while she was sleeping.

When the officers approached Chilvers they noticed a strong smell of intoxicants and that he was slurring his words.

He was subsequently arrested and taken to Hamilton Police Station where he submitted to a breath test.

The lowest recorded results of the test showed that Chilvers had an excess of 160 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in his system. A reading of above 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood is considered drunk driving in Bermuda.

Chilvers' Lawyer Taj Jamal asked the court for leniency so as not to jeopardise Chilvers' education. Chilvers, a student at a Canadian Boarding School, apologised to the court and told Magistrate Ed Bailey that it wouldn't happen again.

Mr. Bailey said: "You shouldn't have let it happen the second time let alone the first."

Chilvers, who already has 22 active driving demerit points before he was sentenced, was warned by Mr. Bailey that he was lucky not to be going to jail as the offence is a serious one and he had already been before the court for a similar matter.