A motorist ended up with a drink driving conviction when he realised too late that his car was parked in an unsuitable spot.

Aptly-named Tommy Peter Cheary was enjoying a little too much good cheer in a Ramsey pub when he realised he needed to move his car to a better parking spot before leaving it.

But when he started to do this he was spotted by police.

For the prosecution, James Robinson told a court the 39-year-old was watched by police as he reversed his silver Toyota Avensis against the one-way flow in East Street. As he manoeuvred backwards into a parking space he mounted the pavement for good measure.

When police spoke to the defendant, they could smell alcohol and deduced he may be drunk, Mr Robinson said.

Cheary admitted to having drunk ’a couple of pints’ and was asked to give a breath test. He complied, but the machine produced an error message rather than a reading.

However, police noted Cheary had to steady himself by leaning against the panda car while he was speaking to them.

He was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and taken to the police station where he produced a breath reading of 75, more than double the legal drink drive limit of 35.

The court noted that while the defendant had no previous convictions in the UK he had one previous drink driving conviction from around 2000 in South Africa.

Defending Cheary, Stephen Wood told the court his client had been to the pub for a few drinks forgetting he may need to move his car.

’Unhappy circumstances bring him before the court this afternoon,’ Mr Wood said.

’He had a couple of pints and perhaps this turned into a couple more. His car was parked in an unsuitable place. His intention was to move it to a better space then leave it there until the alcohol had worn off. The distance driven was extremely short. There was an element of bad driving but reversing down the one way street and mounting the kerb in the parking space are not the same as driving at speed down a one-way street. It was over a short period.’

Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes fined him £900 with £125 costs. He was banned from driving for three years and he must retake his test and complete the drivers’ alcohol rehabilitation course.