Yellowknife (Mar 24/06) - An Inuvik man almost set free due to a lack of legal aid lawyers will serve six months in jail for choking a woman and failing to show up in court.

Lyle Omilgoituk was charged with assault and two counts of harassment, as well as four counts of failing to appear in court.

In territorial court earlier this year, Judge Brian Bruser warned the Crown attorney that the charges could be stayed if a lawyer wasn’t soon found for him. Several defence lawyers could not represent him because of a conflict of interest.

Friday was the last chance for legal counsel to step forward before his case was be thrown out of court. Lawyer Hugh Latimer agreed to represent him.

Omilgoituk pleaded guilty to the assault - in which he choked a woman in front of her two small children. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to show up for court. The rest of the charges were dropped.

Territorial Judge Robert Gorin sentenced him to one year in jail. He will only serve six because credit was applied for time served in remand.

In his judgment, Gorin said he made his decision based on prior domestic violence charges and the seriousness of his actions in front of the victim’s eight-month-old and four-year-old children.

“The facts are very serious. The victim could not breathe and thought she might die.”

According to evidence in court, the assault charge stems from an incident Sept. 11, 2005. An intoxicated Omilgoituk arrived at the female victim’s home at around 6 a.m.

An argument ensued and he grabbed the woman by the neck and choked her. The victim then freed herself and hit Omilgoituk in the back of the head, injuring her wrist.

After being charged with the assault, Omilgoituk went to the woman’s residence several times before he was subsequently arrested a second time on an outstanding warrant for missing court.

Omilgoituk fled and was pursued by officers. He was subsequently caught by an RCMP police dog. He received stitches as a result of cuts to his shoulder and arm from an injury he received from the dog.

Omilgoituk admitted to suffering from alcoholism and said he was very sorry for his crimes. He said he hoped to get help for his drinking problem while in jail.