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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Dettah man accused of setting fire to a house Aug. 3 with two youths inside appeared in court on Tuesday but his hearing was delayed once again as lawyers waited on the fire marshal's report on the incident.

"I feel (the report) is essential for any election to be entered for these matters," said defence lawyer Dan Rideout.

"The crux is the fire marshal's report and we have not received that," agreed Crown lawyer Shelley Tkatch.

Rideout acknowledged that the report is expected to take "some time."

Jimmy Beaulieu, 45, will next appear in court Oct. 28 to speak to nine charges, including six counts relating to the fire, one of which is a charge of arson with disregard to human life.

He will then have to decide whether he wants a judge or jury trial in regards to his arson charges.

Beaulieu stands accused of setting one fire in a crawl space under a home. It did not spread. He is then accused of returning to the home, pushing the two girls, ages 16 and 10, inside and spraying a substance on the stove, which reportedly resulted in a fire.

The two girls escaped unharmed.

Three times the limit

An 18-year-old Yellowknife man was fined a total of $1,800 and given an 18-month driving prohibition after taking a vehicle without permission and driving it while over three times the legal blood-alcohol limit.

"Eighteen might have very well been the last year of your life," said Judge Brian Bruser warned of the potential for a fatality in the July 6 incident.

At the time of the incident the man, Grant Gon, was seen driving while clearly impaired by three separate witnesses within the span of 22 minutes, all of whom phoned into police, said Crown lawyer Shelley Tkatch.

Police found Gon in front of Bruno's Pizza in a gold Suburban with several passengers in the vehicle.

Gon pleaded guilty to all charges against him.

Other than actually getting into a drunk-driving accident, said Bruser, Gon's offence was "about as bad as it gets."

Man accused of cocaine trafficking misses court - again

An Edmonton man accused of trafficking cocaine had a warrant issued for his arrest Tuesday after failing to appear in court for the second time in a row.

The man, Toby Campbell, was ordered to appear Tuesday after missing a Sept. 23 court date at which time he claimed he was "stuck" in Alberta.

At that time the presiding judge asked for a warrant to be held, noting if the man appeared on his next court date on Tuesday, things could proceed.

Campbell's co-accused, Blessing Jade Desire-Tesar, has shown for both dates. Neither accused has yet pleaded.

Judge Brian Bruser ordered the two suspects to be at court together on Oct. 28.

"Whether we have Mr. Campbell in attendance is also a consideration," Bruser said when he announced the court date.