Fort Simpson (Feb 20/04) - In what police are calling a warning to others, a Jean Marie River man was sentenced to three months in jail last Wednesday for supplying alcohol to minors.

Darren James Gargan, 21, admitted giving a 26-oz. bottle of Vodka to three teenage girls -- one of whom police found wandering the streets of Fort Simpson drunk -- on Sept. 29, 2003.

"This is something that's going to have to stop," said RCMP Cpl. Al Shepherd, who acted as the Crown prosecutor in the case.

The girls told police Gargan bought the liquor and re-sold it to them on the night in question.

In Justice of the Peace Court, the 21-year-old pleaded guilty to supplying liquor to minors. He also pleaded guilty to failing to appear in court after skipping an earlier appearance.

Shepherd welcomed the stiff sentence handed down by Justice of the Peace Ken Brown.

"It does send the message that we're not going to tolerate it any more," he said.

It's the first such sentence to include jail time Shepherd has seen since he moved to Fort Simpson more than a year ago.

Offenders are normally fined anywhere from $1,000 to $2,500, he said.

The sale of alcohol to minors became a hot-button issue earlier this month when a 38-year-old woman was sentenced to seven months in jail for supplying hard liquor to a Fort Resolution teen who killed himself just hours after the purchase.

"You don't want to see a repeat of the same situation," said Shepherd.

Shepherd estimates youth accounted for up to 20 per cent of the nearly 450 overnight stays in the RCMP's Fort Simpson drunk tank last year.

"It's something that's definitely not uncommon," said Shepherd. "And it's something we are very serious about."