Yellowknife (Apr 04/03) - A 16-year-old youth who pleaded guilty to stealing one snowmobile and taking another without the owners consent won't have much spending money for a while.

Judge Michel Bourassa sentenced the youth to 18 months probation and ordered him to pay $6,000 in restitution to the owners of the stolen machines. The youth pleaded guilty to theft and taking a vehicle without the owners consent.

Four other youths face similar charges from a string of snowmobile thefts in December and January.

Last December, another youth gave the teenager a tether key, which allowed him to start a snow machine and drive away, Crown prosecutor Loretta Colton told the court.

He drove the machine to the Kam Lake area and stashed it in the bush a it later disappeared.

The next day, the teenager and another youth stole an Arctic Cat snowmobile, again leaving it in the bushes near Kam Lake. RCMP recovered this machine, with about $2,000 in damages.

The youth was initially charged with taking another machine. Other youths took this machine, returned it and collected reward money. The Crown eventually withdrew this charge.

Colton asked for probation with strict terms, restitution and a no-contact order with the four other youths allegedly involved.

Defence lawyer Graham Watt suggested it was not the youths fault the $11,000 machine disappeared from the bush.

Bourassa didn't buy this argument. He called the thefts planned, premeditated and plotted.

The youth told the court his actions were dumb and apologized to the victims. Hes been on a strict curfew since his bail hearing, he said, which has given him time to reflect on his life.

Its a serious offence and Im sorry.

Bourassa first ordered him to hand over his own snowmobile and $2,000 to the first victim, and give $1,000 to the other victim.

But Watt said the youths machine is broken. Bourassa asked him to verify this and changed the order. The youth will now pay $5,000 to one victim and $1,000 to the other.