Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 28/04) - A Yellowknife man has been fined $500 for beating his stepfather during an argument over the volume of his stereo.

The 23-year-old pleaded guilty to a single count of assault and was handed the fine by Chief Judge Michel Bourassa, Tuesday, in territorial court. The man admitted to getting into a fight with his stepfather at the family's Gitzel Street apartment on March 14, after he was asked to turn his music down. "(He was) fighting over some idiocy," Bourassa said.

A NorthwesTel operator received a complaint of a domestic disturbance at around 2 a.m. on the morning of the 14th.

The call was relayed to the RCMP, who went to the family's residence to investigate. They found the man and his stepfather in the apartment, both bloodied and exhausted, said Crown intern lawyer Terri Nguyen.

The stepfather had cuts and abrasions, but did not suffer serious injuries.

On Tuesday, the man's lawyer, Margot Engley, said her client had been drinking heavily that night and didn't remember the incident.

Bourassa told the man he should take a hard look at where alcohol abuse had landed him.