A man was banned from the roads until 2024 after he was caught drink-driving while disqualified.

Juan DeLeon Garcia, 22, from Southampton, pleaded guilty to driving while over the legal alcohol limit, driving while disqualified and driving without a valid licence on July 31.

Magistrates’ Court heard police were on South Road in Devonshire, near the entrance of the Botanical Gardens, at about 10.20pm when they saw Garcia ride a motorcycle east at high speed.

They followed Garcia and saw him overtake a line of traffic before they caught up and stopped him near the bottom of Brighton Hill.

The officers suspected Garcia had been drinking and asked him to take a breath test.

The test revealed he had 137.8 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood — more than 50 per cent over the legal limit of 80 milligrams.

The court also heard that Garcia did not have a driving licence and that he had been banned from the road until July 2021 for another drink-driving offence in April 2019.

Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe said it was a major concern that Garcia had taken to the roads while banned.

He added: “He may need to go to prison. He clearly has not learnt his lesson whatsoever.”

Garcia apologised to the court and said he had been drinking because he had lost his hotel job.

Mr Wolffe disqualified Garcia from driving all vehicles for three years — and ordered that the disqualification period begin at the end of his previous period of disqualification next July.

He also fined Garcia $2,500 on the drink-driving charge, $1,000 for driving while disqualified and $300 for driving without a licence.

Mr Wolffe ordered that Garcia pay $1,300 of the fines by the end of the day.

The magistrate added: “He is not going to walk out of the court without paying something. He’s lucky he’s not going to prison.”

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