SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A 21-year-old woman was sentenced to nine months probation May 2 for throwing a paring knife at her boyfriend while he was holding their baby.
RCMP were alerted to the situation by the boyfriend at about 9 a.m. on Dec. 13. He told the dispatcher that his girlfriend was "going crazy" and had assaulted him with a knife. Both parties had been drinking.
When police arrived at the Frobisher House apartment the assailant was locked in the bathroom with a knife. She put the knife down after officers asked her to and was taken into custody. Police recovered the knife and noted a cut on the boyfriend's hand.
The woman will not be named in order to protect the identity of the victim and the child. The woman, who was dressed in a black sweater, jeans and socks on her court day, never saw alcohol abuse or violence at home but witnessed it in the community, court heard. She is attending counselling at the Tree of Peace to work on her issues and has gone back to school to get her Grade 12 diploma.
Crown prosecutor Jeannie Wynne-Edwards asked that the assailant be given six months probation with conditions to take counselling, complete community service and have no contact with the victim while intoxicated.
The defence lawyer asked for six months probation for her client but requested she not be given any community service.
In making his decision territorial court Judge Robert Gorin took into account that this was the assailant's first offence and that she had entered early guilty pleas. However, it is extremely aggravating, he said, that the boyfriend was holding the baby when the knife was thrown. It's fortunate the weapon didn't hit the child, Gorin added.
Under the order the woman must attend all counselling programs directed by her probation officer, complete 30 hours community service and is forbidden from contacting the victim while intoxicated.
The assailant also received $400 in fines and five days in jail for three counts of failing to comply with bail conditions. She was given credit for the five days she spent in jail after she was picked up by police on one of the breaches.
