SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 29-year-old man was handed a $1,500 fine, one day in jail and a one-year driving restriction for driving while prohibited, when he took to the wheel after he was informed his girlfriend had been cheating on him.

Police pulled the man over at approximately 3 a.m. on Nov. 14 near the Shell convenience store on Old Airport Road last year for a traffic violation. Upon checking, police found the man to be under a 14-month court order not to drive related to a drunk driving offence less than a month before. They arrested him on the spot.

Crown prosecutor Marc Lecorre said although he wasn't charged for impaired driving, the man had been drinking prior to the incident.

"What's aggravating is although the accused wasn't charged with impaired driving, he was drinking and getting behind the wheel," he told the court.

Lecorre said a longer driving prohibition and a short, sharp jail sentence was needed. Defence lawyer Jay Bran said despite the prior drinking and driving conviction and the current charges, "this young man stays out of trouble" and doesn't have a history of breaking the law.

"He tells me he simply made a bad decision," Bran said of his client's choice to drive after confronting his girlfriend on 50 Street about cheating on him. "They weren't very smart actions."

Judge Bernadette Schmaltz said the charges need to be taken seriously and the one day in jail will appear on his record as a warning.

"Don't expect to be treated leniently again," Schmaltz said, adding a jail sentence is the "norm" for ignoring a driving prohibition.

The man will have to finish the first driving prohibition order of 14 months before the newly added one-year prohibition starts.

Those found guilty of driving while prohibited can receive up to five years imprisonment.