Joyrider fined, but no jail
Young man must pay for crime,
but will not be incarcerated
by Mark Rendell
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, July 30, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
An 18-year-old Yellowknife man has been fined $400 and ordered to pay an additional $2,000 toward the purchase of a new vehicle after destroying a stolen SUV on a high-speed joyride around the city in May.
Desmond Nitah, who pleaded guilty to car theft as well as assault, was sentenced by Judge Christine Gagnon to 90 days in jail July 25. However, he was paroled on the day of his sentencing after being granted one-and-a-half day's credit for each of the 60 days he spent in custody at North Slave Correctional Centre prior to his guilty plea.
According to the agreed statement of facts, on May 9 Nitah and another man broke into and stole a 2008 Ford Edge from Age Automotive on Kam Lake Road, where Nitah worked in the tow yard.
The two men then took the SUV on a joyride around Yellowknife. At one point while driving the vehicle at the Sand Pits, the SUV became airborne and blew one of its tires upon landing.
Nitah drove back to Age Automotive where he changed the tire and kept driving around the city at speeds of more than 100 km/h before abandoning the car in the middle of Old Airport Road.
When police found the vehicle, it was leaking fuel and one axle and wheel were broken.
The assault happened several days later on May 16, when Nitah accosted a man who refused to buy him alcohol.
Whether Nitah punched the man or pushed him so that he hit his head on the wall of a nearby building was never established before the court. It was accepted, however, that the man suffered a head injury which, he claimed, led to epileptic fits.
The fines and the sentence of 90 days was much more lenient than the five-to-eight months of incarceration suggested by Crown prosecutor Jennifer Bond.
In stealing the car, said Bond, Nitah showed "a significant lack of respect for the property of others ... (and was) lucky that the only thing damaged was the vehicle."
In relation to the assault, she argued, his sentence should have been severe enough to send the message that violence affects others, often in more dramatic ways than expected.
Defence lawyer Peter Harte argued Nitah's pretrial incarceration was sufficient to send a message and that fines would be the most appropriate response.
Nitah's mother, who asked not to be named, added to the appeal for leniency by explaining to the court that her son had grown up in rough circumstances.
She said that she herself had struggled with drug abuse problems and had been in trouble with the law.
"I said I'd never want that lifestyle for my son, but now here he is," she said. "I've changed my lifestyle and I believe my kid can do it too.
"I know he can be a good person and he just needs to believe in himself and pick himself up."
Gagnon suggested a similar thing when she addressed Nitah during sentencing.
"There's a place for you," she said. "You just need to find it. If you don't know what you want in life ... you can be sure of what you don't want," she added, referring to the two months he spent in jail before being sentenced.
