by P.J. Harston
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jan 31/97) - A man who used his head to break a police cruiser window has been sentenced to 30 days in jail, to be served on weekends.

Territorial court judge Thomas Davis also placed Robert Sittichinli, 30, on 10 months probation Tuesday, and ordered him to pay $485 in restitution.

Crown lawyer Sandra Aitken told court that Sittichinli has a criminal record that dates back to 1983 and includes 42 convictions, 23 of them property offences.

She suggested Davis send the man to jail for between one and two months.

Defence lawyer Clark Rehn said Sittichinli -- single, unemployed and originally from the Mackenzie Delta -- would benefit from an intermittent sentence because he is attending classes at Aurora College.

"When he committed the offence he was a man who was drinking," said Rehn. "Now he's quite stabilized."

Court heard that Sittichinli and a woman were drinking beer and spilling it in the back of a cab, Dec. 7. Police asked them to leave, but Sittichinli became verbally abusive and was arrested for public drunkenness. After being placed in the cruiser, he used his head to smash its rear window.

He was taken to hospital and received four stitches to close a wound on his head.