Yellowknife (Dec 10/04) - A Yellowknife bar owner said Tuesday she would rather go to jail than see her liquor licence suspended for six days.

Patricia Dartnell, who owns the After Eight Billiard Hall on Forrest Drive, said the closure would have a devastating impact on her business, during a disciplinary hearing before the Liquor Licensing Board.

"Can I go to jail?" she asked. "I can't really afford (the closure). The best thing for you to do is send me to jail."

The board cannot impose jail sentences.

According to testimony during the hearing, Dartnell was "drunk" when she pressured a bartender at the pool hall to let her buy a round of beer for her customers on May 1, 2004.

Her generosity violated liquor laws which forbid selling alcohol to anyone who is intoxicated, the board ruled.

"Allowing drunkenness in a bar is a serious offence," said board chair Don Kindt. The six-day closure starts Jan. 3, 2005. After Eight can re-open on Jan. 10.

It was the bar's second violation of the Liquor Act in the last two years. They were cited in January 2003 for allowing drunkenness on the premises.

Also at Tuesday's hearing, the Top Knight Pub was fined $2,000 for overcrowding.

A liquor inspector testified that 235 customers packed the downtown dance club on Oct. 15. The allowable limit is 200.

A lawyer for the Top Knight argued the number was incorrect, pointing to the fact that the inspector told the liquor board he counted the 235 patrons in about 30-45 seconds. That averages out to roughly seven per second, a number one board member characterized as "really fast."

The board noted this was the pub's first official violation since it opened in 2002.