Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 21/02) - Thomas Ballem, 57, was sent to jail for four months yesterday for threatening a Workers' Compensation Board employee who denied his claim.

Ballem entered a plea of guilty last month on a charge of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.

Last Dec. 19, Ballem posted a letter on the office door of the WCB addressed to the employee who dealt with his claim. The letter was signed by the accused.

Ballem wrote he was a "spokesperson for all the victims of WCB." The first line of the letter stated "You f---ers," and then referred to "hiring a group of Vietnamese to deal with the WCB employees."

"I can only imagine the means the Vietnamese would use ... the (WCB) parking lot would be a great place to get a baseball bat across the teeth," he wrote.

Ballem also wrote the home address of the victim would be "easy to get" and said the victim and his family "were sitting ducks."

Crown prosecutor Shannon Smallwood requested 30 to 60 days in jail because Ballem's record includes two convictions for uttering threats in 1995 and an assault conviction in 1963.

She also took into account that Ballem had not issued any threats to the victim since the letter was received.

Defence lawyer Kelly Payne suggested that a suspended sentence would be appropriate, or one day in jail, because he wasn't aware of "how threatening the letter was."

Judge Brian Bruser disagreed with the sentence recommendations from both the prosecution and defence.

"In reading the letter it satisfied me clearly that Mr. Ballem said what he meant and meant what he said.

"The letter is saturated in evil meaning," said Bruser.

Bruser said the fact that Ballem did not intend to carry out the threats "does not take away from the seriousness of the letter."