Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 22/02) - In an unusual court case a local man was ordered to donate money to the Canadian Cancer Society as punishment for smoking on an airplane.

Roderick John McCarthy was arrested by the RCMP and held in cells overnight after he was caught smoking in the bathroom during a First Air flight from Edmonton to Yellowknife on July 30.

McCarthy, intoxicated at the time of his arrest, admitted to smoking on the plane but defended himself saying he "only had a few drags."

McCarthy pleaded guilty to violating Section 602.06 (2) (smoking in an aircraft lavatory), contrary to the federal Aviation Act, in territorial court Tuesday.

In his defence, he said he was stressed out at the time after travelling all day from Labrador City, Nfld.

But Judge Michel Bourassa took the matter seriously.

"It isn't silly to smoke in an airplane lavatory. It's a crime," he said.

"If you can't take a flight without getting a hit of nicotine, you should find another way to travel," Bourassa said.

McCarthy has been placed on probation for four months with a condition ordering him to make a $1,000 donation to the Canadian Cancer Society.