Moruga man banned from driving

A 48-YEAR-OLD Moruga man has been fined $20,200 and permanently disqualified from having a driver's permit after being arrested and charged for drunk driving and cursing the police.

Officers from the Debe police post were on traffic duty at Moruga Road, St Mary's Village, Moruga, on July 16, at around 11.30 am, when they saw a black Toyota Hiace swerving from side to side.

They stopped the car and detected alcohol on the driver's breath.

Police said the man then stumbled out of the car, admitted he had been drinking and acknowledged he was wrong for driving.

When the officers said he would have to do a field sobriety test, he cursed them.

He was warned for using obscene language, but he cursed again.

Police tried to arrest the man but he resisted. He was eventually subdued and taken to the Debe police post.

Police did a sobriety test on two occasions and found the man had a blood alcohol level of 128 micrograms per 100 ml of breath and 122 micrograms per 100 ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms per 100 ml of breath.

He was charged for driving under the influence of alcohol, using obscene language and resisting arrest by WPC Bahadoorsingh of the St Mary's police post.

The man appeared before a magistrate on Friday and was fined $15,000 for driving under the influence, $5,000 for resisting arrest and $200 for obscene language.

He was ordered to pay the fines by August 15 or face three years in prison for driving under the influence, 30 days in prison for obscene language and nine months in prison for resisting arrest.

He was also permanently disqualified from holding a driver's permit.