After sliding into unhealthy relationships, alcohol abuse and suffering great loss upon moving to Carmacks three years ago, Edgar Wesley-Beaver found himself being sentenced for two assaults and two probation breaches this week.

Wesley-Beaver, 24, had moved to Carmacks after having grown up in a traditional Stoney Nakoda First Nation family in Morley, Alta., west of Calgary.

In territorial court this week, Judge Karen Ruddy noted Wesley-Beaver had come from a stable, supportive family, and had done well in school.

The problems, she said, began 'when he moved to the Yukon and entered into a relationship that was not as healthy as it ought to have been.'

Ruddy recounted that in a short period of time, Wesley-Beaver experienced the loss of his sister in a traffic accident, two of his cousins were murdered, and after months in hospital, his infant daughter died.

Defence lawyer Lynn MacDiarmid said as a result of these losses, Wesley-Beaver began to abuse alcohol.

Crown prosecutor Michael Cozens described two Carmacks events from the past spring that led to assault charges.

On one evening, he said, Wesley-Beaver stabbed two men visiting his home for a drinking party using a kitchen knife. The stabbings resulted in one man being medevaced to Whitehorse for a serious wound to his abdomen.

On a separate occasion, Wesley-Beaver pushed his common-law partner to the ground and bit her thumb, Cozens said.

Wesley-Beaver was also charged with breaching a probation order that he abstain from alcohol consumption and possession, and for breaching a no-contact order with his former partner.

MacDiarmid said her client had pleaded guilty to all the charges and takes responsibility for his actions.

She said he has been sober since April, and had been working to turn his life around. He had found employment in Whitehorse, and lived at the Adult Resources Centre under 'strict conditions.'

Members of Wesley-Beaver's family travelled from Morely to attend the sentencing hearing.

Both Cozens and McDiarmid told Ruddy that Wesley-Beaver's family is prepared to support him as he works through his issues, and would work with him to ensure his compliance with any conditions or orders placed on him.

Both lawyers suggested that Wesley-Beaver serve a conditional sentence at home with his family, to give him the opportunity to improve his life's direction.

Ruddy ordered Wesley-Beaver to serve a 13-month conditional sentence at home, followed by an 18-month probation order.

'He has an awful lot going for him, and a lot of potential,' she said. 'But I cannot lose sight that the offences before me are extremely serious, and the length of the sentence needs to reflect that seriousness.'

Wesley-Beaver will have to be at home between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m., find a job and participate in a number of programs aimed at helping him rehabilitate, all of which are available to him in Alberta.