Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Feb 19/01) - A Fort Good Hope man has been sentenced to 12 months in jail for assaulting his aunt and failing to comply with the conditions of a probation order.
Jeffrey Kelly, 34, plead guilty on both counts before Territorial Court Judge Brian Bruser on Feb. 14.
The offence occurred on Jan. 28 at the Yellowknife home of a female relative after the two of them left the Gold Range after a night of drinking.
Court was told the Kelly became enraged after the woman rejected his sexual advances.
He punched her three or four times before she was able to get away.
The accused was on probation at the time of the incident and was not supposed to be under the influence of alcohol. Crown counsel told court that Kelly has a criminal record between 1994 and 1999, and listed at least nine violent crimes including robbery with violence during the trial.
Defence attorney Thomas Boyd said Kelly became angry after discovering he was missing a sum of money, and believed the woman may have taken it.
Boyd also argued that Kelly has weakness in his left arm from a past injury and is not capable of severely beating anyone.
Judge Bruser disagreed.
"We're not dealing with a wuss here are we?
"(Kelly is) basically self-destructing ... he's spent a good part of the last decade in custody and when he drinks he gets in all kinds of trouble," said Bruser.
Before the sentence was handed down, Kelly apologized for his actions.
"I know what I did was wrong ... I would just like to say I'm sorry."
He was sentenced to nine months for the assault and three months for not obeying the terms of his probation.
Two weeks jail, two weeks work
He bought pot for himself and some friends, and beat his wife. Now he will spend time in jail.
Paul Charles Football, of Wekweti (Snare Lakes), was sentenced to 75 days in prison for assault and drug offences when he appeared in Territorial Court last week.
Football, 25, pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife, Adeline, possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of marijuana.
The assault and trafficking charges stem from a Nov. 17 incident at the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife.
Court was told Football, who was intoxicated, hit his wife at least three times in the head after she rejected his sexual advances.
In his statement to police, Football said he had collected $500 from three residents in Wekweti who wanted him to purchase an ounce of marijuana for each of them.
He returned to Yellowknife Jan. 10 to face the two charges in court but was caught with two ounces of marijuana two days later when his luggage was searched by police.
Obviously (the charges against him) didn't have that much of an impact on him when he appeared in court on Jan. 10," said Judge Brian Bruser.
Bruser sentenced Football to serve two weeks out of every month in jail, to allow him to start work at a job that began today. He is also prohibited from consuming or possessing alcohol in the presence of his wife and prohibited from possessing or using drugs.
