SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 50-year-old Yellowknife man was sentenced to one day in jail and ordered to pay back a store for a television he stole and then sold to help pay for an addiction to crack cocaine.

The Yellowknife RCMP received a complaint from the Extra Foods Store on Old Airport Road that a man had entered the store and shoplifted a flat-screen television valued at $379 on Jan. 23, 2011 at 2:14 p.m. A woman standing in front of the store took a cell phone picture of the thief placing the television in the back seat of a blue Dodge Neon.

The RCMP tracked down Christopher Green at his residence after identifying the licence plate in the photo, Crown prosecutor Janice Walsh said in territorial court on April 26.

Green originally denied the accusation. However, he admitted to the crime after the police viewed the store's security tape, which showed Green stealing the television. He told the officers he sold the television to help pay for crack cocaine, said Walsh, who asked Judge Christine Gagnon to impose a one-day jail term, fulfilled by his court appearance, 12 months of probation, restitution and that Green be ordered to stay away from the store for the duration of the probation.

Defence lawyer Hugh Latimer submitted a letter from Stanton Territorial Hospital outlining how Green has spent time in the hospital, both in the psychiatric ward "drying out" and in the general medical treatment ward for about the past two months as a voluntary patient.

Latimer told the court his client once owned a trucking business and is dealing with a foreclosure on his house.

He said his client has a dated criminal record, with the majority of offences occurring between 1980 and 1992. He agreed with the Crown's sentencing recommendation.

"The ends of justice would be met if (Green) was put on probation and made restitution," he said. Green, who sat at the defence table with a sombre look on his face, declined to speak to the court when asked by the judge.

He had pleaded guilty to the charge of theft under $5,000 on April 19.

Gagnon gave Green 12 months to pay the restitution and waived the victims of crime surcharge due to financial hardship.

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