Pangirtung man, 28, gets 12-month sentence for stabbing

A Pangnirtung man received a 12-month jail sentence for stabbing another man after a consensual fist-fight escalated into a one-side knife attack. (FILE PHOTO)

Johnny Akulukjuk, 28, of Pangnirtung, will serve out a 12-month jail sentence, minus 23 days to account for time served, after pleading guilty to assault causing bodily harm in an incident that left another man with a collapsed lung, Nunavut Justice Sue Cooper ruled in a sentencing judgment released July 14.

The incident began when Akulukjuk followed the other man, who was intoxicated.

A consensual fight started, motivated by an earlier assault by the victim on Akulukjuk’s brother-in-law, Cooper’s judgment said.

“Mr. Akulukjuk and the victim appear to have a history of animosity that predates this offence,” Cooper said.

But Akulukjuk escalated the level of violence by hitting the victim’s legs with a two-by-four, causing him to fall.

And when the victim tried to get up, Akulukjuk stabbed the man three times, once in the head, once in the back and once in the chest.

The victim suffered a collapsed lung and an eight-centimetre cut to his head, but recovered fully after being medevaced to hospital, where he spent nine days receiving treatment.

Akulukjuk does not drink and was not intoxicated at the time of the offence.

Cooper also heard that he’s a high school graduate who wants to get the training he needs to become a heavy equipment operator and that he grew up in a good family where he did not suffer any abuse or neglect

He also has a common-law partner and two young children.

However, he has 16 convictions on his criminal record — including three convictions for assault and two for uttering threats.

The date of the offence is not given, but this past May 12, Akulukjuk pleaded guilty and was sentenced May 26.

After weighing and balancing various mitigating and aggravating factors, Cooper ordered a 12-month jail sentence to be followed by a 12-month period of probation.

“It is aggravating that Mr. Akulukjuk introduced a knife into what was a fist fight. The introduction of the knife escalated the seriousness of the incident and significantly increased the risk that there would be serious injury or, indeed, death,” she said.

But Cooper said Akulukjuk’s early guilty plea means the victim doesn’t have to come to court to testify and that he accepts responsibility for what he did.

Because he was held in custody from May 12 to May 26 awaiting sentence, Cooper, using a 1:1.5 calculation, gave him 23 days credit for time already served.

She also anonymized parts of the written version of the oral judgment to prevent certain people from being identified.