A lawyer from an international law firm was fined $3,200 and banned from driving for 26 months yesterday for drink driving last September.

Briton Marcus Jerome Gordon, 45, who is a Singapore permanent resident, admitted to driving along Keppel Road when he had at least 181mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood at 2.12am on Sept 10 last year. This exceeded the legal limit of 80mg per 100ml.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Azri Imran Tan said Gordon was drinking at a Boat Quay restaurant with his girlfriend the night before. They left at about 2am in his car for home.

At 2.12am, while driving along Keppel Road, before Sentosa Gateway, an unknown car cut into his lane from the left.

He swerved to the right to avoid a collision and mounted the kerb, hitting some bushes.

Gordon, who admitted to a Traffic Police sergeant that he had consumed alcoholic drinks, failed a breathalyser test at the scene.

A blood test later showed the proportion of alcohol in his blood was more than double - 2.26 times - the prescribed legal limit.

DPP Tan said drink driving is an offence that reflects a blatant disregard for the safety of other road users and, more pertinently, a lack of personal responsibility.

"He knew full well that it is an offence to drive while under the influence of alcohol, and yet he chose to drive home after a night of drinking," DPP Tan told District Judge Carol Ling.

Gordon's lawyer Suresh Damodara said: "This offence was totally out of character and a lapse of judgment on his part.''

Gordon could have been fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed for up to six months for drink driving.