Yellowknife (Mar 17/04) - A Yellowknife man was fined $500 and ordered to spend a day in jail for breaching his probation Thursday, about 24 hours after his original sentencing hearing was delayed when he showed up to court heavily intoxicated.

On Wednesday, the man stumbled into the lobby of the Yellowknife courthouse and asked several people seated outside of the second floor courtroom if they were his lawyer.

"Who's the judge today, hopefully not Bourassa," he asked, referring to territorial court Chief Judge Michel Bourassa.

"He's not going to like this."

As it turned Bourassa was presiding over the case.

The man went on to say: "I know I messed up. I'm going away. But I might as well have a bit of fun first, eh?"

The man also opened his jacket and offered a shot of scotch to one person seated in the lobby.

In court, the man's lawyer, Glen Boyd, requested a one day adjournment of the breach-of-probation sentencing hearing.

"My client's not at his best today," said Boyd.

After Bourassa asked if the man had been drinking, Boyd said, smiling, "I'll leave that to the court's determination."

During the resumption of the hearing, Thursday morning, Crown attorney Mike Eweson said the 42-year-old man was picked up outside of the Gold Range on Jan. 21, 2004, as part of another investigation.

Police discovered the man was on a probation order that forbade him from drinking.

Eweson noted that the man had more than 30 convictions on his record, including several assaults and break and enters.