by Chris Meyers Almey
Northern News Services

NNSL (Mar 14/97) - Addiction counsellor Kevin Albert Taylor was sentenced to a token day in jail Tuesday for his second conviction for driving while disqualified. He was also fined $850.

Taylor, 38, had his licence suspended previously following drunk driving conviction, so judge Michel Bourassa issued a stern warning in territorial court.

If he's back in court again on a drunk-driving charge, Taylor will be looking at two years in jail, said Bourassa.

Crown attorney Sandra Aitken said Taylor was stopped by police for a routine check last June and was found without insurance and under a driving ban that began November 1994.

Law student Keri Barringer, however, argued that Taylor would lose his drug and alcohol addiction counselling job if sent to jail. He also supports two children in Ontario.

The court has few weapons at its disposal to combat the carnage on the streets by drunk drivers, Bourassa said, so prohibition of driving must be taken seriously.

If Taylor has turned himself around from alcohol abuse, so much the better and the public is protected, he added.