A motorist was banned from driving all vehicles for 12 months yesterday after he admitted failing to give a breath sample to police.

Trevor Forth, 48, of Ramgoat Hill, Smith’s, also got an $800 fine from Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo.

Prosecutor Yanique Gardener Brown told the court that Forth lost control of his blue BMW car and collided with a barrier on Middle Road in Hamilton Parish on March 3.

A police officer who saw Forth get out of the car asked him how the crash happened.

The court heard Forth shrugged his shoulders and said: “I don’t know.”

Ms Gardener Brown said the officer noticed a strong smell of liquor on Forth’s breath, along with red eyes and difficulty in standing.

The defendant was asked to give a sample of breath for analysis, with his first effort giving a reading of 270 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood — the legal limit is 80mg.

The prosecutor said Forth gave short breaths for the second sample instead of the deep breath he was asked to take, which meant an accurate reading could not be made.

Ms Gardener Brown added: “Therefore, he failed to adhere to the proper procedure.”

No evidence was offered on an alternative charge of impaired driving.

• This story has been corrected to reflect the fact that the defendant was banned from driving all vehicles for 12 months, not four months, as originally reported.

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