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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A 36-year-old man was convicted of assault Thursday for choking and punching his girlfriend of two years following an evening of drinking.

Judge Robert Gorin handed the man, who will not be named in order to protect the victim, a six-month conditional discharge. If he completes his probation without incident, the conviction will be removed from his record.

On the evening of Feb. 1 the couple went drinking in downtown Yellowknife and

afterwards headed to Nova Court apartments. As they became intimate the man began choking her. She told him to "get out" and he responded by punching her in the face two or three times.

When he got up to go the bathroom, she left and later reported the incident to police.

Crown prosecutor Maren Zimmer noted this is the man's first conviction and that he successfully completed the Domestic Violence Treatment Option (DVTO) process.

The eight-week program, which was introduced in 2011, requires participants to undergo counselling and aims to help them improve their relationships.

The man was actively engaged in the program and has greatly benefited from it, said defence lawyer Tony Amoud, adding the couple is back together and they haven't had any issues.

The man, clothed in a black suit, stood to "formally apologize" to his girlfriend who was in the courtroom. He also thanked the court for recommending the DVTO program to him. It has helped him to better manage his life, he said.

Before sentencing him, Gorin said he would likely have given the defendant a short period of custody had he not taken the program.

"It was a serious assault," he said, later warning the defendant not to repeat the same sort of behaviour in the future.

Gorin handed the man a six-month probation order with conditions that require him to abstain from alcohol and drugs and participate in counselling programs suggested by his probation officer.

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