RADILIH KOE'/FORT GOOD HOPE - A Fort Good Hope man who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault after attacking a man with a large breadknife at a party was sentenced to two years less a day in territorial court in Yellowknife on Feb. 26.

"Both (the victim) and yourself are lucky he did not die as a result," said Judge Christine Gagnon as she passed down the sentence.

"You could have been facing a murder charge."

Lindsey McNeely, 22, sat with his lawyer, dressed in a green shirt and sweatpants. He'd been in custody since the assault.

The assault occurred at a party in Fort Good Hope on March 15, 2009, according to the agreed statement of facts, read aloud by Crown prosecutor Janice Walsh. Both McNeely and the victim were drinking at a mutual friend's house, when they started arguing. They prepared to take the argument outside and settle it in a fight.

While the victim was stepping out onto the porch, McNeely attacked him and they fought until the fight was broken up and the victim went back inside. McNeely followed a while later, but with potentially deadly intentions.

McNeely grabbed a bread knife measuring seven to eight inches long and hid it in his sleeve, and then pounced on the victim and inflicted seven knife wounds of various sizes.

The biggest cuts included a six-inch wound from his neck to his ear, a two-inch wound in the middle of his neck, and a one-inch cut behind his ear - all required stitches.

The victim and a friend took McNeely outside after the knife attack and beat him. Both the wounded man and McNeely were transported to Yellowknife, and released from Stanton Territorial Hospital the next day. McNeely was taken into custody immediately.

Walsh, Gagnon, and Peter Fuglsang, the defence lawyer, all admitted the pictures of the wounds were gruesome, but Fuglsang asked the court to keep in mind that the victim was released the next day and "seems to have suffered no long-term problems."

Gagnon said the wounds were in very sensitive areas, and reiterated how lucky both McNeely and the victim were the cuts were not lethal.

McNeely pleaded guilty after the witnesses and the complainant testified.

"I'm sorry for what I did. People can change and I am willing to change," he said.

McNeely received 18 months credit for the nearly 12 months he spent in custody, and has six months left to serve. The jail time will be followed by three years of probation, a DNA order, and a 10-year firearms ban with an exception for hunting.