SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 21-year-old woman who asked to serve jail time, instead received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to mischief in territorial court on Nov. 9.

The woman was arrested on June 12 after police were called to the Coast Fraser Tower area following complaints that a woman was vandalizing a vehicle in a parking lot.

The witness who called the police said she saw the offender scraping a grey SUV with a knife. A friend who was with the offender was telling her to stop and finally managed to get the knife away from her and throw it out of reach.

The damage done to the paint on the vehicle was estimated at $2,284.59.

"Neither (the owner of the vehicle) or his wife were able to understand why someone would do this to their vehicle," said Crown prosecutor Alex Godfrey. "The accused was angry and damaged the vehicle closest to her."

The woman said she had no recollection of the night due to being drunk, and has never met the owner of the vehicle.

Her life was thrown off balance in high school by hard drugs and alcohol, according to a pre-sentence report submitted to the court. The report stated she does not want to seek counselling to help her overcome her addictions.

"She appears to be comfortable in the lifestyle she is living," said Godfrey.

Defence lawyer Peter Fuglsang said his client doesn't want counselling because "she thinks she can beat this on her own" and she has been cutting down her drug and alcohol intake over the last few years. He also said she'd rather go to jail than be released on probation.

Judge Bernadette Schmaltz said it would be "a real waste" to send the offender to jail for this offence and it would not be of any benefit to her or the man whose car was damaged.

The offender said she could afford to pay off the damages at $100 per month, and wanted to do so as she felt bad about the incident. Schmaltz agreed

to that suggestion.

The judge also gave her a two-year suspended sentence, meaning she won't face jail time unless she again breaks the law or the court conditions imposed on her.

Schmaltz added if the woman started to think that counselling and addiction treatment might help, she should contact the probation office and get them to set something up for her.

"I can appreciate that there may be ways that you want to deal with your addictions on your own," said Schmaltz.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.