SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 31-year-old Yellowknife man who told the court he isn't normally a violent person received one day in jail Feb. 10 for lifting his girlfriend by her hair and then striking her twice in the face.

Territorial court Judge Bernadette Schmaltz originally sentenced the man to 60 days in jail but gave him credit for time served in custody since Oct. 15, 2010.

"If you think you can beat someone into loving you, you're mistaken," Schmaltz told the offender. "How you can get any satisfaction from that is beyond me."

Although he has a "lengthy" criminal record involving property crimes and failures to appear in court, this is the man's first conviction for violence, she said.

Crown prosecutor Wendy Miller told the court the man returned to his Borden Drive residence drunk and jealous at around midnight on March 27, 2009, after he had been out looking for a job during the day. Miller said the man went into a bedroom and accused his girlfriend of having an affair. The situation turned violent as he grabbed her by the hair and lifted her off the bed, calling her obscene names.

He backhanded her in the mouth, and then slapped her on the right side of her face.

She managed to break free briefly, but he grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her back on the bed. He then pinned her by her shoulders, but instead of striking her again, he got up and said "it wasn't worth it." The woman fled the bedroom and locked herself in another room, where she called police, said Miller.

However, when the RCMP arrived, the boyfriend had already left the residence. Miller said this case has been "dragging on since 2009" because the police were unable to locate the man, believing he left the city.

The prosecutor requested a sentence of 30 to 60 days in jail minus credit for time served and one year of probation, including an order he have no contact with the victim for an assault that left her "quite terrified" during and after the attack.

Defence lawyer Glen Rutland said, although not an excuse, it was still unusual for this client to have been drinking as heavily as he had that night. Rutland added the man is trying to "put his life in focus." He agreed the Crown's 30 to 60 days recommendation was reasonable.

The offender apologized to the court and to the victim. He explained he wasn't raised in a violent home or was the type of person that had a violent temper. Schmaltz shot back at the idea he wasn't a violent person.

"You have to figure out what happened that night and do something about it," she said. "If you need some help, get some help."

Besides one day in jail, she also sentenced him to one year of probation.

Before he can get his life in focus, he has another matter to deal with in court. Instead of walking away a free man after the one day sentence he was returned to the North Slave Correctional Centre due to an unrelated charge of aggravated assault in Supreme Court.

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