SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to 70 days in jail after pleading guilty to threatening a youth shelter worker with a pocket knife.

Francis Kudlak was charged with uttering threats and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose after he pulled a knife on a staff member at the Hope's Haven shelter on Feb. 1. Hope's Haven is open to males and females ages 15 to 24.

Reading from an agreed statement of facts in territorial court March 18, Crown prosecutor Jacqueline Porter said the Hope's Haven staff member noticed the shelter kitchen door was open after 10 p.m. Shelter rules dictate that 10 p.m. is closing time in the kitchen so the staff member investigated. Peering into the room, he saw Kudlak and another young man "grabbing whatever they could find in the dining room area," said Porter.

The shelter worker dispersed the men, reminding them about the 10 p.m. rule. A few moments later the worker found Kudlak breaking into the kitchen again, this time taking food from the fridge.

When the staff member confronted him, Kudlak left the room. Shortly afterward, however, he heard Kudlak and the other man speaking. Kudlak was telling the man not to worry, "in less than five minutes I'll deal with him."

Kudlak then appeared before the staff member and pulled a red pocket knife out of his pants pocket.

The staff member asked him, "are you pulling a knife on me?"

Kudlak responded, saying "you see it," and uttered a racial slur.

Police were called to the shelter around 10:25 p.m. and found Kudlak lying on a bed. He was asked to produce the knife but said he didn't have it. Police searched but did not find the knife. Kudlak was arrested and has been in custody since then.

Porter asked for a three or four month jail term prior to sentencing.

Kudlak is already subject to a probation order issued previously by Judge Bernadette Schmaltz and so a new probation order is not necessary, said Porter.

Kudlak's lawyer, Tracy Bock, said his client "has had a difficult past." Kudlak moved to the city in the summer of 2014, he said. A conviction for assaulting his father in Ulukhaktok meant he was no longer welcome in the community, said Bock.

He said Kudlak suffered from instability in his life and began having problems with the law shortly after his arrival in the capital.

"Both his parents and grandparents went to residential school and his parents separated when he was very young," said Bock.

Bock said Kudlak wants to train as a carpenter and has been upgrading his education while at the North Slave Correctional Centre. He said while Kudlak is no longer welcome at Hope's Haven he has saved enough for a partial down payment on an apartment upon his release. Bock was seeking a 70-day sentence to be followed by a period of probation. He said Kudlak is willing to attend treatment if the court sees fit.

Asked by Chief Judge Christine Gagnon if he had anything to say for himself, Kudlak said he felt the Hope's Haven staff member he threatened holds a

grudge against him.

"(The staff member) has been having a hate on me for quite some time," he said.

Gagnon said pulling a knife on someone is not a good way to deal with problems.

"Do you understand today that was not the way to tell him?" she said. "There has to be other ways to express that. You cannot threaten people. Words may hurt as much as fists and other forms of violence."

The judge said she was taking Kudlak's troubled upbringing into account in siding with the defence in handing down a more lenient sentence of 70 days.

"I'm not going to give up on you," she said.

Gagnon credited Kudlak to one-and-a-half days for each day he has already spent in custody, meaning he has 37 days left to serve. She added conditions to the probation order handed down by Schmaltz, that Kudlak have no contact with the staff member he threatened or attend the Hope's Haven shelter and ordered him to provide a DNA sample to RCMP.

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