Groom accused of being too drunk to marry

A groom faced a local court in southern Australia Thursday after being arrested at his own wedding when a church minister refused to perform the ceremony, news reports said.

Police were called to a Uniting Church in the suburbs of the city of Adelaide in February after the groom became upset at the minister's refusal to carry out the wedding, saying the man was too drunk.

Jacob Frances Brookes, 40, a musician, was charged with disorderly behaviour and resisting arrest, the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper reported.

Brookes denied doing anything wrong in the lead-up to his arrest, the newspaper said.

After a brief hearing in court he told reporters he had his stag night on the night before the wedding, but denied he was too drunk to go through with the marriage.

He insisted he had only consumed two beers and two shots of whiskey.

"That's not drunk," he told reporters.

He said he still hoped to win the heart of his intended bride. "I miss her to bits ... she's always in my heart."

The Advertiser said the bride wasn't so keen, and had told Brookes the wedding was off.