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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - For being somewhere he shouldn't and refusing to leave, a 28-year-old man had to spend time somewhere he wasn't allowed to leave - jail.

In territorial court on July 12, the man was sentenced to 88 days behind bars for five counts of failing to comply with court conditions.

Completely disregarding orders to remain sober and stay away from his girlfriend, the man drunkenly entered her apartment twice earlier this year and refused to leave until the police came and took him away.

The orders not to contact the woman or to drink alcohol stemmed from a spousal abuse charge that had earlier been laid against the man - a charged that was later stayed.

The facts surrounding the failure to comply with court conditions include an incident that took place at 7:43 p.m. on March 10 when police were called to the man's girlfriend's apartment. He had entered and, despite her efforts to get him to leave, steadfastly stood his ground until the alcohol got the better of him and the RCMP arrived.

"He was in the bedroom and was found to be passed out on the bed," said Crown prosecutor Janice Walsh.

The man was arrested and charged, but just a month later, on April 16, he again drank alcohol and returned to his girlfriend's place, refusing to leave. Only when his girlfriend once again called the RCMP did the man leave with one of his friends. The woman gave the police the friend's phone number, and when they phoned him, the friend said that the man had just left to return to the woman's apartment.

When police arrived, they heard both female and male voices inside. They knocked, the girlfriend let them in and they again arrested the man.

"(The offender) was hiding behind the bedroom door," Walsh said. "He showed a marked, significant focus of returning to the complainant's place."

The man was held in custody after his April 16 arrest, and he was given one-for-one credit for those days already served, meaning he was released from jail shortly after sentencing.

Defence lawyer Jay Bran said his client is coming to terms with his drinking problem, as he'd been attending addictions counselling meetings twice a week while incarcerated and plans to continue receiving help. Bran said the man has applied to finish high school and has a daughter in foster care who will be two years old next month.

Judge Christine Gagnon sentenced him to 30 days in jail for breaking the conditions not to drink or have contact with his girlfriend - stemming from the March 10 incident - and 58 days more for breaching the same conditions April 16, plus breaching an order to keep the peace.

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