Homeless Iqaluit woman gets federal time for violent attack

A homeless woman in Iqaluit has received a one-year jail term after beating up another homeless woman in a beach-front shack.

Police originally charged Elena Ootoovak, 32, with aggravated assault for the attack on Kitty Noah, but lawyers bargained it down to assault causing bodily harm in exchange for Ootoovak’s guilty plea.

Ootoovak’s lawyer, Christian Lyons, said Noah attacked Ootoovak with a hammer in Joe Teemotee’s shack near the old courthouse on August 29.

The women had been drinking and argued over Teemotee, who had been in a relationship with Noah and now was with Ootoovak.

Ootoovak overpowered Noah, took the hammer and attacked her until she fled.

A bystander found and assisted a bloodied Noah as she approached the Northmart, her usual place to beg for change from passers-by.

A witness saw Ootoovak, who was crying at Teemotee’s shack, pick up a hammer and walk toward Northmart, where other witnesses saw her with the weapon and alerted RCMP.

Noah needed A medevac to Ottawa and received sutures for the lacerations on her scalp, according to admitted facts, and also broke an arm and suffered minor injuries to her limbs and neck in the attack.

Ootoovak’s criminal record is a long list of minor assaults, petty thefts and breaches of conditions, but the Aug. 25, 2009 incident was the most serious in her history.

“Her assaults in the last year have been largely confined to people in authority,” said Lyons,noting these consisted mostly of assaults on RCMP members and staff at Northmart and correctional centres.

She was already serving a sentence for an unrelated assault, so her new sentence will be served concurrently with the previous one until her scheduled release from the Nunavut Women’s Correctional Centre in December.

Ootoovak suffers from mental health problems that the Nunavut Women’s Correctional Centre isn’t equipped to handle, Crown prosecutor Jessica Thompson said Oct. 29.

Ootoovak has been in the prison’s segregation cell since she attacked staff in September.

So Crown and defence lawyers suggested in a joint submission that she serve her latest sentence at the federal penitentiary in Joliette, Quebec, which is equipped for the psychological treatment of female offenders.

“There was excessive violence, but you have recognized that by your plea and by indicating that you want to get help,” said Justice Lynn Ratushny.

Follow her release, Oootoovak will remain under probation for two years and must conditions to keep the peace and stay away from Noah.