SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 26-year-old Yellowknife woman ordered not to possess alcohol was caught buying booze at the downtown liquor store 20 minutes after leaving the courthouse on Dec. 28, 2010.

An off-duty police officer caught her in the act.

Crown prosecutor Glen Boyd called the incident as "blatant a breach as one can get" when the case arose in territorial court Jan. 11.

Boyd said the officer that recognized the offender had arrested her previously. In addition, a surveillance camera in the liquor store caught the woman making the purchase. Boyd asked the court for a 30-day jail sentence.

Defence lawyer Paul Falvo explained his client may not have fully understood the conditions of her release - to abstain from consuming or possessing alcohol - when she went into the liquor store and bought the alcohol. He also said the alcohol wasn't for his client but for her cousin, an adult that didn't have her ID with her.

Falvo requested for a sentence less than the Crown's request, and asked that his client be given credit for time served.

Judge Christine Gagnon sentenced the woman to 30 days in jail minus 15 days credit for time served since Dec. 28.

Earlier in the day, the woman pleaded not guilty to an assault charge on Dec. 24, 2010. Her trial date for that charge is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2011.

Man drops and breaks shoplifted liquor bottle, fined $300

A Yellowknife man who shoplifted a bottle of alcohol only to watch it slip from his grasp and smash to the ground as he fled the downtown liquor store was given a $300 fine by Judge Christine Gagnon in territorial court Jan. 11.

Crown prosecutor Glen Boyd asked the court to send a strong message that "if you shoplift, that will be a very expensive bottle of alcohol."

Boyd said the Yellowknife RCMP recognized the man from the liquor store's surveillance camera.

He said he could have requested jail time for the Sept. 16, 2010 offence, but since the man co-operated with police and admitted to the crime when police caught him shortly after in the downtown Reddi Mart convenience store, he said a $400 fine was appropriate.

Defence lawyer Glen Rutland had asked for a smaller fine of $200 given his 34-year-old client is unemployed and is in a common law relationship with a woman and has four children.

Man accused of drug trafficking back in court

A man charged with possession of 270 grams of cocaine and three kilograms of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking was back in court Thursday to further his request for a preliminary inquiry into the charges.

Defence lawyer Peter Fuglsang told the court the Crown and the defence were working towards resolving the matter.

"(It's) very close to fruition, or a complete collapse," said Fuglsang.

His client, Robert John Livingstone, 47, and Rory Moore were pulled over on June 27, 2010, while driving on Highway 3 headed for Yellowknife, about 40 km from the city.

The value of the drugs seized by police is estimated to be worth about $100,000.

Judge Bernadette Schmaltz adjourned the case until Jan. 18 at 1:30 p.m., when a date for a preliminary inquiry will be discussed.

Moore has a bail review set for Supreme Court on Jan. 24

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