Features

  • News Desk
  • News Briefs
  • News Summaries
  • Columnists
  • Sports
  • Editorial
  • Arctic arts
  • Readers comment
  • Find a job
  • Tenders
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
  • Market reports
  • Northern mining
  • Oil & Gas
  • Handy Links
  • Construction (PDF)
  • Opportunities North
  • Best of Bush
  • Tourism guides
  • Obituaries
  • Feature Issues
  • Advertising
  • Contacts
  • Archives
  • Today's weather
  • Leave a message


    NNSL Photo/Graphic

  • NNSL Logo .
    Home page text size buttonsbigger textsmall text Text size Email this articleE-mail this page

    Man goes to jail for assaulting siblings

    Lauren McKeon
    Northern News Services
    Published Friday, September 5, 2008

    SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 19-year-old man has been sentenced to two months in jail for assaulting and uttering death threats against his three siblings.

    The Yellowknife man, who was still on probation in relation to a conviction under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded guilty Tuesday to both charges.

    The charges stemmed from an Aug. 20 altercation between the 19-year-old, his brother and his two sisters in which he became enraged when his sisters did not bring him home a coffee, Crown attorney Sandy Aitken told the court.

    He then said "I'm going to f---ing kill you," to his two sisters, said Aitken.

    The accused's brother woke up, at which point a physical altercation began and the accused went partly through a wall.

    RCMP located the accused later in the night after he ran away from the incident.

    They found him "walking down Range Lake Road, wearing a blue shirt, shorts and no shoes," said Aitken. He was non-responsive when officers read him his rights.

    "He was talking about doctors trying to kill him," said Aitken.

    According to the 19-year-old's mother, the accused has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and drug-induced paranoia. At the time of the incident, he had not been taking his medication.

    "The situation got very much out of hand," said defence attorney Kelly Payne.

    She added the siblings had forgiven their brother and foremost wanted him to get help.

    Judge Robert Gorin said without an official psychiatric assessment, concerns over the man's health and medication needs were "hearsay."

    In addition to two months jail time, the accused also received nine months probation during which he is to have no contact with his family unless initiated by the family.

    Gorin also ruled counselling was to be included as part of the probation order.