SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - "Pilot puncher" Stephen Waugh needs a complete psychiatric assessment. And, because he does, more than a year will have passed between his crime and his sentencing.

Waugh pleaded guilty on June 25 - the same day his trial was scheduled to begin - to interfering with a pilot during a flight from Fort Simpson to Yellowknife on Nov. 6.

While aboard a Summit Air Dornier 228 turboprop passenger plane, a supposedly intoxicated and agitated Waugh hit the co-pilot on his arm and grabbed at his uniform. According to the pilot, Waugh also said he was going to urinate on the pilots and all over the plane.

Waugh was arrested by RCMP at the airport upon arrival, but, before that, also attempted to rip the plastic guard off the emergency door causing passengers to restrain him.

His sentencing was delayed to Sept. 14 to allow the Fort Simpson man to undergo a psychiatric examination. His lawyer, Stephen Shabala, said Waugh suffers from anxiety, claustrophobia and fear of flying.

In NWT territorial court Monday, Shabala told Judge Robert Gorin he contacted Yellowknife psychiatrist Dr. Robert Clemmey immediately after court on June 25.

But because Waugh is a Northern man who wants a Northern assessment and because Clemmey is - according to Shabala - the only doctor available in the territory, Shabala has spent a "somewhat frustrating" two and a half months trying to secure time for his client.

Crown prosecutor Annabelle Racine protested the motion to adjourn, saying too much time will have gone by between the time of the incident and Waugh's sentencing.

"He's had a long time," she said.

Gorin agreed stating, "it's unfortunate the assessment ... has not yet been completed" but said at the same time Clemmey's assessment will be "useful" in ensuring Waugh gets a proper sentence.

Waugh is set to appear in territorial court for sentencing on Nov. 13.