FORT SIMPSON/YELLOWKNIFE - Const. Colin Allooloo was sentenced to 30 days of house arrest for pepper spraying a prisoner more than three years ago.

Allooloo will be allowed to serve his time under house arrest and is also prohibited from possessing firearms for 10 years.

He is also required to provide a DNA sample to police, Supreme Court Justice Leigh Gower ruled Friday.

In September, Allooloo, 34, was convicted of assault with a weapon in relation to the Sept. 16, 2006 pepper spraying of a youth. Allooloo was in charge of the detachment when he released pepper spray under the door of the Fort Simpson drunk tank, hitting the teenage boy in the left eye.

The 16-year-old, who had been arrested for breach of probation, was described throughout the case as acting unruly and making a lot of noise in the cell.

In his victim impact statement the teenager, who's now 20, said the incident has affected his trust in authority and the RCMP. He also wrote that Allooloo should get another chance.

Defence attorney Caroline Wawzonek argued against jail time for Allooloo.

A jail sentence and a prohibition against possessing firearms would both be grounds for dismissal from the RCMP, ending Allooloo's career, Wawzonek said.

Wawzonek asked the judge to take into consideration the fact Allooloo has no prior criminal record, is of good character and has been a respected member of the communities he's lived in.

However, crown prosecutor David Gates said since Allooloo is in a position of public trust, his sentence should be more severe because that trust was broken.

Sgt. Brad Kaeding of the RCMP said Allooloo is suspended from duty for 10 days without pay and a separate hearing within the RCMP will take place to determine Allooloo's future with the RCMP .

"His future is in question at this point," Kaeding said outside the Yellowknife courthouse.

He did not give a specific time as to when the decision will be made for Allooloo's future, but said an investigation within the force is important and it is vital to listen to public complaints about RCMP officers.

"We are obligated to investigate complaints because it is the only police in the Northwest Territories," he said.

He also stated that while the RCMP does make exceptions for employees who cannot carry weapons, they are usually for medical reasons.

During the Supreme Court session in Fort Simpson on Thursday Gates argued Allooloo should receive a short jail sentence for the offence.

The maximum penalty is 10 years and Gates said he would leave the amount of time given to Gower's discretion.

Gates also argued no exemptions should be made to the mandatory order prohibiting the possession of firearms. The pepper spraying was a deliberate, thought out and planned act that was made without provocation, said Gates, adding the victim wasn't a model prisoner but he was in jail behind a steel door and wasn't a risk to anyone.

Allooloo's actions were "grossly disproportionate to the situation that confronted him," said Gates.

Gates described the incident as a "stupid, senseless act of gratuitous violence on a defenceless child."

"There's something very wrong with Const. Allooloo's behavior," he said.

The pepper-spraying incident constituted a breach of trust to the public and to a fellow RCMP officer, said Gates. Other aggravating circumstances include the fact that Allooloo didn't tell his superior officer what had happened and didn't attend to the teenager's well-being after pepper spraying him, Gates said.

Gower adjourned the sentencing, originally to take place in Fort Simpson, to reflect on the submissions. Court reconvened on Friday in Yellowknife.