Adam Johnson
Northern News Services
Monday, June 18, 2007

RAE-EDZO - Despite the fact he bowed his head and apologized, a Behchoko man with a history of violence was sent back to jail last week.

Freddy Tinqui was sentenced to 12 months in jail June 12, after being found guilty of one count of assault with a weapon, stemming from a November 2006 incident in Behchoko.

Tinqui attacked a man with a baseball bat outside of the Khon Go Cho Sportsplex Nov. 1. According to court reports, the victim - a friend of Tinqui's - was trying to shield the victim of a previous beating, whom Tinqui was acused of punching unconscious. Tinqui was found not guilty in a charge stemming from the first incident.

In a statement to the court, Tinqui said he had been told the initial victim had sexually assaulted Tinqui's daughter, and that's why he had attacked him. He later learned this was a lie.

"I wasn't thinking straight," he said. "I'm sorry I took the law into my own hands."

While Territorial Chief Judge Brian Bruser considered the statement in his sentence, he also considered Tinqui's history.

"At the age of 39, with this kind of record, you should always be thinking straight," said Bruser.

Tinqui's record runs back to 1991, with the first of several assault charges - including cases in 1995, 1998 and 2003 - resulting in as much as 18 months in jail.

"You need another message from the court," he said. "This will be message number seven."

On top of the sentence, Bruser also instituted a firearms ban, "to protect the public."

"I truly fear for the safety of the public if you lose your temper and have access to firearms."

In 2006, Tinqui was tazered several times by RCMP officers during an incident in his home in Behchoko, and spent four-and-a-half months in jail awaiting trial. A judge later determined Tinqui should not have been arrested in the first place. At the time, Tinqui told News/North he was considering suing the RCMP.