SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 36-year-old Fort Liard man who terrorized his common-law wife and their child over the course of a day was sentenced to nine months in jail on May 14 for an array of offences.

The man, who stands over six-feet tall and is described as "imposing," sat with his defence lawyer, Abdul Khan, during the trial.

"You're starting to accumulate a record of violence," Judge Christine Gagnon told the man. He has three prior convictions for violent crimes, including one prior assault on his spouse.

According to the agreed statement of facts, the man was drinking whiskey with his common-law wife of 14 years on the afternoon of April 22. As she sat with their five-year-old child on their couch at home, the man came up to her unprovoked and told her "your baby is gonna see you die tonight."

She fled as he yelled at her, returning shortly after when she thought it was safe to grab her clothes.

The man came up behind her at the dresser and pushed her, then punched her in the back of the head. She was able to flee through a window.

She then ran to her brother's house, where the man appeared shortly after in the driveway. As she stood with her brother and his wife, the man told her brother "you're dead tonight," and threatened to burn down the house and destroy his vehicle.

The man also said he was going to "throw (his spouse) in the river" and that he'd see them at her funeral.

The couple's five-year-old child was present throughout the affair.

When police were called the man hid in the bushes, evading capture and later caught up with his common-law and child. He dragged them back to his house before he was finally arrested.

"The young child had to witness his ... father dragging his mother through the mud in the street," said Gagnon before she passed down her sentence.

He was charged with two counts of criminal harassment and one count of assault.

The man told the court he struggled with alcohol addiction and had blacked out that day. He said he went to treatment last August, but relapsed, and he intends to go back again.

He also faced a charge of unlawful presence in a home, stemming from an incident on Jan. 23 where he was found naked in his uncle's basement, blacked out drunk, sitting on the couch and refusing to leave.

"He's a big, imposing individual and if he doesn't want to move, no one's going to move him," said Crown prosecutor Duane Praught.

The man was given a total of nine months and one day in jail but received one month of credit for the 23 days he spent in custody since the assault in April. He was also handed 12 months of probation.

He was also convicted of two offences under the Motor Vehicle Act for being caught driving without a license twice last December. His licence had expired in 2006. He was fined $690 as a result of those charges.