by Ian Elliot
Northern News Services

NNSL (Oct 29/97) - A self-confessed "computer junkie" has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for stealing $22,000 worth of computers from a Yellowknife business this summer.

Terrence Smith, 23, pleaded guilty to a July 25 break-in at Ollerhead and Associates on Franklin Avenue in territorial court yesterday.

After finding the outside door to the second-floor business ajar that evening, Smith forced the upstairs door open with his shoulder and took a laptop, court heard. He returned later with two friends and took another load of computers and accessories.

He turned in some of the stolen equipment to police later, but the total loss to the business was pegged at $15,400.

Although the prosecutors were only asking for a nine-month sentence, Judge Michel Bourassa noted it was a "major break and enter" and there was little chance the young man could make restitution.

Although Smith said he was drunk at the time and told the court he had "smartened" himself up since the incident, Bourassa referred to a statement from the business owner saying that if it had happened a month later, it could have put the firm out of business because they would have lost data from a major project.

"One has to wonder, rhetorically I suppose, does no one consider what they're doing to the people they're ripping off?" Bourassa said prior to pronouncing sentence.