Yellowknife (Mar 19/04) - A Yellowknife man has been sentenced to two months in jail for kicking and threatening to kill RCMP officers while he was drunk.

Jason Siemon, 39, pleaded guilty, Tuesday, in territorial court to uttering threats, resisting arrest and breaching the terms of his release.

Police discovered him asleep in the stairwell near Overlander Sports at about 1 p.m. on Dec. 2, 2003.

When they woke him up, he couldn't tell police his name or where he lived.

He became belligerent after officers placed him in the back of a squad car, saying "I'm the boss" and "I own this town," said Crown attorney Shelly Tkatch.

While he was being transferred into RCMP cells, he called one officer a "bitch" and threatened to kill him.

Six days later, on Dec. 8, police again found him passed out.

This time he was in the lobby of the Northern Heights Apartments, a little after midnight.

Officers woke him up and, according to Tkatch, he began yelling at them, saying they should "fuck off."

He tried kicking one member before being pepper sprayed and taken into custody.

He was charged with breaching conditions for drinking again after he was released on Dec. 2.

Alcohol problem

His lawyer, Margot Engley, said her client was remorseful for his actions, which were spurred by a serious problem with alcohol.

On the night of the eighth, Engley said her client had roughly 20 shots and two bottles of hard alcohol.

At the time of the incidents, the man -- diagnosed as manic depressive -- was also suicidal, Engley said.

He has since spent 14 days in the Stanton Territorial Hospital psych ward, Engley said.

Chief Judge Michel Bourassa sympathized with his problems, but reminded the man his alcoholism could be fatal.

"If you get drunk and fall asleep outside in December, you won't be waking up anytime soon," Bourassa pointed out.