SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 27-year-old man will not serve jail time after he and another man beat and kicked a fellow prisoner while in custody at the RCMP drunk tank last summer.

Danny Molloy pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm.

Crown prosecutor Mathieu St. Germain told territorial court Oct. 29 that police arrested Molloy and a male co-worker downtown near midnight for public intoxication and causing a disturbance on Aug. 28. They were placed in a holding cell, more commonly known as the "drunk tank."

While in the cell at around 1:45 a.m., the two men began to argue with a third man who was lying down in the cell. The man got up and charged at Molloy's co-worker.

Molloy intervened before the man had a chance to strike his co-worker. The two colleagues then proceeded to punch the other man repeatedly, and then pushed him to the floor.

As he lied on the floor in the "fetal position," the two men kicked him at least 10 times.

When officers entered the cell, the two men pretended to be asleep. The victim was taken to Stanton Territorial Hospital where he received three stitches to his head. Officers reviewed the video surveillance tape of the cell and charged both men with assault causing bodily harm.

Defence lawyer Glen Rutland said his client "took it too far" in defending his co-worker from the potential attack in the cell, and said Molloy doesn't remember the attack because he was intoxicated. After receiving a copy of the video surveillance tape from the Crown on Oct. 19, the offender pleaded guilty to the charge a week later in territorial court on Oct. 26.

Schmaltz acknowledged the early guilty plea that spared the court a trial. His co-worker has a territorial court trial date set for Dec. 15.

The judge also told Molloy he was extremely fortunate he wasn't facing a more serious charge.

"You have no idea how easy it is to kill a drunk person by hitting and kicking them in the head," she said. "I think it would have been incredibly unfortunate if you were sitting there facing a manslaughter charge."

Schmaltz sentenced Molloy, who has no previous criminal record, to one day in jail. That day was considered to have been served by his day in court, so he will serve no actual jail time. She also sentenced Molloy to pay a $1,000 fine and a victim of crime surcharge of $150.

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