Busta Rhymes regains licence

After his latest court appearance, Busta Rhymes is free to drive ... for a while at least.

Rhymes' lawyer said a judge turned down a motion by the prosecution to suspend the rapper's licence following his drink driving arrest last week.

A second breathalyser test showed Rhymes was under the legal limit.

The Grammy-nominated musician also turned down a plea deal that would have sent him to jail for one year, according to officials in New York.

This is the fourth time that Rhymes has been arrested in the past ten months, most recently on May 3 on suspicion of drink driving.

The rapper also faces two charges for assault and one for driving with a suspended licence.

In exchange for pleading guilty, Rhymes would have served one year for the assault charges, been fined $1,500 (£1,250) and forced to participate in an anti-drink driving programme, said Edison Alban, a spokesman for the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

The next court date has been set for July 10.

Rhymes, 34, whose real name is Trevor Smith, was pulled over shortly after midnight on May 3 in Manhattan while driving an SUV, which police described as having "excessively tinted windows."

At the time a police spokeswoman said Rhymes had a "strong odour of alcohol on his breath."

In the past Rhymes' lawyer, Scott Leemon, has been quoted in press reports as calling Rhymes' arrests "payback" for the star's refusal to help police in their investigation into the fatal 2006 shooting of Rhymes' former bodyguard, Israel Ramirez. The case remains unsolved.

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