SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 26-year-old man pleaded guilty and was fined $500 for selling tobacco products to a minor earlier this year.

On March 21, 2009 a tobacco inspector from Health Canada and a member of the RCMP conducted an inspection at the Co-op Gas Bar located on Old Airport Road. At approximately 10:15 a.m., a 16-year-old boy successfully purchased cigarettes from the attendant without being asked for identification.

In territorial court on June 18, Judge Robert Gorin said he felt the attendant was remorseful for the fact "he made no effort to ask the individual how old he was."

"He's learned his lesson," Gorin said.

Defence lawyer Garrett O'Brien spoke on behalf of his client and said his client "apologizes to the court for his lack of due diligence" in not asking the teenaged customer for identification.

The man will have three months to pay off the fine or work it off through the Fine Options Program.

It's the third time in less than three years the Co-op Gas Bar has been in violation of the Tobacco Act. The service station previously violated the act in 2006 and again in 2008.

Man gets five months for slapping woman

A 42-year-old Yellowknife man received more than five months in jail for slapping a woman and being intoxicated during a probation order.

Ronald Taylor pleaded guilty to slapping a Yellowknife woman on Dec. 12, 2008. Taylor contacted the woman numerous times by phone early in the evening before she met with him and brought him back to her place, where they began to drink. At approximately 2 a.m., Taylor slapped the woman across the face and left the apartment after a failed attempt at kissing her.

He also pleaded guilty to failure to comply with a probation order. On June 8 at approximately 11:30 p.m., police found Taylor intoxicated by the A&W on Franklin Avenue. He had been ordered not to consume alcohol as a condition of his probation.

Defence lawyer Garrett O'Brien said Taylor, a self-employed carver, was making effort to clean up his act.

"He knows alcohol is his downfall," O'Brien said, adding the assault was at the "low-end of the scale" and was more of a "spontaneous thing."

Judge Robert Gorin said Taylor had a long list of convictions for violent offences and felt he wasn't "getting the message" and "needed to take responsibility for his actions."

Taylor was given five months and 10 days for the assault and breaching his probation.

19-year-old fined for refusing breathalyzer

A 19-year-old Yellowknife man caught joyriding while intoxicated received a $1,000 fine for refusing a breathalyzer test.

Police pulled the man over at 2 a.m. on April 25 after they spotted him hanging out of his SUV, yelling at his sister. Police found the man to have slurred speech, liquor on his breath and glossy eyes. When asked to provide a breath sample, the man refused.

Crown attorney Jill Andrews said the man requested a lawyer, only to refuse the lawyer once contacted.

"He was extremely uncooperative with police just for doing their duty," Andrews said.

The young man apologized for his attitude and to "all those who had to deal with me."

Although the man is currently unemployed and living with financial support from his parents, Judge Robert Gorin said the "economy is still quite good" and the young man could find a job to pay the fine in the three months he was given to do so.