Yellowknife (Sep 01/04) - A Yellowknife man who brandished a hunting knife during a March home invasion and threatened to kill the caretaker of a downtown apartment complex was sentenced to nearly four years in prison last week.

David Angohiatok, 25, pleaded guilty to four charges on Friday in territorial court, including break and enter for the purposes of committing theft and assault.

"The accused's conduct is deteriorating," said Chief Judge Michel Bourassa. "There is a consistent pattern of anti-social behaviour for 10 years."

Angohiatok, accompanied in court by two RCMP officers, has more than 35 criminal convictions on his record and has spent the majority of his adult life behind bars.

"He is serving a life sentence on an installment plan," said Bourassa as he handed down the 46-month prison term.

The majority of Angohiatok's sentence, three years, stems from a March 27 home invasion in downtown Yellowknife.

Brandishing a hunting knife, Angohiatok kicked in the door of an acquaintance's apartment and demanded cash from the people inside.

Angohiatok told the residents -- a man, a woman and a number of children -- he would kill them if they didn't comply. They gave him roughly $30.

"Small children are faced with the memory of this man kicking his way in, waving a knife and uttering threats," said Bourassa.

On his way out of the apartment complex, Angohiatok was confronted by a caretaker who was unaware of the home invasion. After an argument, Angohiatok grabbed the man by the hair, threw him to the ground and said: "Don't move or you're dead," Crown attorney Loretta Colton told the court.

Angohiatok made the caretaker beg for his life and apologize for the argument.

The caretaker eventually got away and Angohiatok left the area, only to be arrested later that night outside a downtown convenience store.

"He terrorized, threatened and humiliated (the caretaker)," Colton said. "And obviously it would have been terrifying for the people in (the apartment). There is a need for protection of the public from Mr. Angohiatok."

Smooth getaway

Angohiatok also broke into a vision centre on Feb. 9 and made away with 16 pairs of glasses valued at more than $1,200, a crime he almost got away with using James Bond-like duplicity.

During the break-in, Angohiatok tripped an alarm in the Nunasi Mall where the store is located, prompting an employee to check out the situation.

The employee saw Angohiatok walking out of the building with a blue recycling container.

When the man asked Angohiatok what he was doing, Angohiatok covered the top of the recycling box and told the man he was getting rid of toxic material, pointing to an emergency vehicle parked across the street.

The man let Angohiatok leave with the $1,200 worth of glasses, only to find out later the emergency vehicle was attending an unrelated call.

Caught

downtown

But Angohiatok's smooth getaway didn't last long. The employee provided police with his description and an intoxicated Angohiatok was arrested a short time later standing outside of a downtown bar.

In court, Angohiatok apologized for the crimes, at one point calling himself an "idiot."

"Sometimes I mean to do well, and I end up screwing up."

Graham Watt, Angohiatok's lawyer, said his client suffers from a severe addiction to alcohol and crack-cocaine.