SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 42-year-old Yellowknife woman has been sentenced to three months in jail for assaulting a fellow prisoner.

Levena Keyookta pleaded guilty in territorial court Tuesday to one charge of assault, one charge of theft and two charges of breach of undertaking.

Keyookta committed the assault after being arrested and put in jail by RCMP on July 6. That same day she had attempted to steal $42.35 worth of merchandise from Wal-Mart.

Both Keyookta and the victim she assaulted were intoxicated and sharing a cell.

The victim was sitting on the toilet seat when Keyookta pushed her and began punching her in the face, hitting her several times. The victim suffered one cut and several bruises.

"At no time was this assault provoked," said Crown prosecutor Glen Boyd. "It's simply, utterly, totally and completely inappropriate behaviour."

Judge Bernadette Schmaltz agreed, telling Keyookta "Being in cells, she (the victim) has no way to get away from you."

"People don't go around punching each other and knocking them to the ground," she added.

Defence lawyer Dan Rideout requested Keyookta not serve jail time but instead comply with probation which would require her to take alcohol counselling.

But Schmaltz disagreed, pointing to several prior assaults on the woman's criminal record.

"With that record and those circumstances, I don't see that anything but a jail term can be considered," she said. "If that's the way (you behave) when you drink, you've got to stop."

In addition to the three-month jail term, Keyookta was also sentenced to one-year probation, during which she is to take every opportunity for anger and alcohol counselling provided.