Yellowknife (Jun 02/06) - A Yellowknife man who was forced to break into his own mailbox after his wife hid the key during an argument was convicted of mischief and fined $150 earlier this week.

The 39-year-old man was arrested March 25, after a neighbour spotted him prying at a Canada Post mail slot on Rivett Crescent.

Police found the man hiding behind a house on the Range Lake area street at around 10:30 a.m., said Crown attorney Shannon Smallwood on Tuesday in territorial court.

Officers searched him and found pliers, a paint scraper, a multi-tool and a torch, said Smallwood after the man pleaded guilty to the mischief charge.

Defence Lawyer Patrice Taylor explained the mail slot actually belonged to the man, but his wife had hidden the key during an argument. The man was expecting money from a relative and wanted to get into the Canada Post-owned box, Taylor said.

"He was entitled to get into the box, though not the way he did," Taylor said.

Judge Michel Bourassa fined the man $150. He called the attempted break-in "a lapse in judgment."

There was no estimate on the damage to the mailbox. The man had a previous criminal record, though his last conviction was in 1993, according to Smallwood.

The man, who sits on the board of a local organization that combats substance abuse, said he planned to get help for a drinking problem.

Contractor cleared in death of workers - again

An Edmonton-based contractor has been cleared for a second time in the death of two workers at the Diavik diamond mine in 2001.

A territorial Supreme Court justice dismissed an appeal from the Crown attorney's office to overturn the lower court acquittal of contractor Supreme Steel.

There is not enough evidence to connect the company to equipment problems that killed Greg Wheeler, 27, and Gerhard Bender, 33, Justice Virginia Schuler said in a written decision released last Tuesday.

"In all the circumstances, I'm unable to say the trial judge's decision to acquit was unreasonable," Schuler wrote.

Wheeler and Bender were working on a 40-metre-tall manlift at the Diavik diamond mine northeast of Yellowknife when it overturned, sending the men plummeting to their deaths. Supreme Steel was charged with two counts of violating safety regulations under the Mine Health and Safety Act.

The Crown argued during a March 2004 trial that the manlift had mechanical problems and Supreme Steel was negligent in not checking the machine before Wheeler and Bender got on. Lawyers for the company argued the men hit the side of a building, causing the machine to overturn. Following the four-week trial, which was spread out over a year, a territorial court judge ruled there was not enough evidence linking the manlift's mechanical problems to the accident.

Man approaches 40 convictions

A Yellowknife man racked up his 39th criminal conviction Tuesday for randomly attacking a Salvation Army resident last winter.

Timothy Cockney, 35, punched the surprised victim in the back of the head and shoved him during meal time at the downtown centre for homeless men, March 1.

Judge Michel Bourassa sentenced Cockney to 14 days behind bars for his latest brush with the law.

The admitted alcoholic had 38 previous entries on his record, including eight for violence.

Since the early 1990s, Cockney has been convicted of uttering threats and sexual assault, which earned him penitentiary time.

"He has been leading a life that has left a path of destruction in its wake," said Bourassa.

Cockney's defence lawyer had asked for the sentence to run on weekends to ensure Cockney didn't lose his job at a Kam Lake-area auto repair shop. Bourassa said his record was too bad and Cockney showed little promise for rehabilitation.