A man has been fined £2,000 and banned from driving for five years for failing to provide a sample of breath.

Stephen Richard Caple, of Shore Road, Kentraugh, Rushen, was stopped by police on Quine’s Hill in Douglas on December 14 at 1.25am.

Police reported that they had followed the 54-year-old coming from Bridge Road turning onto Leigh Terrace.

They had concerns about his driving as he was veering slightly in the road.

Once stopped, he was said to be smelling of alcohol and he failed a roadside breathalyser test.

Caple told police he had drunk ’a couple of pints’ about an hour previously.

But once at police headquarters he was unable to provide a sample of breath despite making numerous attempts.

He said: ’I tried five times but I was cut off everytime saying I had failed.’

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes also ordered him to pay £125 prosecution costs, retake his test at the end of the ban, and attend a drink-driving rehabilitation course.