Yellowknife (Mar 28/03) - Last summer, 22-year-old Jamie Stringer kicked an intoxicated man in the face while wearing steel-toed boots. The victim, a civil engineer, suffered vision problems and needed reconstructive surgery.

On Jan. 28, Judge Brian Bruser found Stringer guilty of assault causing bodily harm. During the sentencing March 18 in territorial court, Bruser said he reflected on the case every day since finding him guilty.

Bruser gave Stringer a nine-month conditional sentence.

Stringer will serve four months of this sentence under house arrest, which means he cant leave his house except for work, community service or medical reasons.

Bruser also ordered Stringer to pay $4,725 in restitution to the victim and serve 240 hours of community service a the maximum amount he could order.

At the trial, the 26-year-old complainant testified he intervened in an escalating argument between Stringer and two women.

A fight ensued outside the Gallery and the complainant was knocked down several times.

The accused kicked him in the face at least twice while wearing construction boots.

Stringer was sober that night; the complainant was intoxicated.

The victim suffered fractures to his cheekbones and he lost his sight in one eye for two weeks. As of last December, the man still suffered from double vision.

However, a glowing pre-sentencing report found that Stringers actions that night were completely out of character and that he poses no risk to the community.

Not only were his actions atypical, said the judge, but Stringers character has also changed dramatically since being seriously injured in a workplace accident last August.

The accident left him with left arm fractures and a brain injury.

Once active and witty, Stringer is now soft- spoken, emotionally fragile and struggles with speech.

He has no adult criminal record.

During the trial, Stringer maintained his innocence and offered up a version of events described by the judge as a work of fiction.

However, Bruser accepted that Stringer could have been confused due to his brain injury.

Stringer himself admitted his version of events was false, but said he believed his own story until the court proved otherwise.

He expressed deep and genuine regret for the beating.

Crown pushing for jail time

Crown prosecutor Andrew Fox asked for a period of incarceration, citing three cases with sentences in the three-month range.

Fox agreed Stringer is unlikely to appear before the court again but was skeptical of his remorse.

If he has a lot of regret and remorse, said Fox, it seems to be coming a bit late in the day.

Defence lawyer Robert Gorin asked for a suspended sentence a or at least a conditional, community- based sentence.

During a lengthy explanation of the reasons for his ruling, Bruser said the case met the Criminal Code criteria for imposing a conditional sentence.

Instead of handing Stringer a shorter period of incarceration, Bruser decided to sentence him to a nine-month conditional sentence.

A sufficiently lengthy and onerous conditional sentence can meet the same sentencing goals and objectives, said Bruser, which include denouncing the crime and deterring others.

The victim still has the option of filing a civil suit against Stringer.