A Whitehorse man is spending four more months in jail and will serve an 18-month probation sentence for an attack on his mother last March 28.

The jail term amounts to a total of 16 months, including the eight months' jail time while awaiting trial.

Territorial Judge John Faulkner handed down the sentence to Jason Richard Martin in a written decision last month. It saw Martin receive 12 months' credit for the eight months in jail leading up to the trial.

Martin pleaded guilty to one count of assault causing bodily harm and another count of unlawful confinement. Another charge of assault with a weapon was stayed.

'Obviously, this was a serious attack and, just as obvious, it was a most egregious break of trust in that Mr. Martin attacked his own mother in her own home,' Faulkner wrote in his decision.

Though he would have sought a stiffer sentence, he said he would not veer from a joint submission of both the Crown and defence for a 16-month sentence.

The facts of the case, Faulkner wrote, show that in late March 2005, Martin was staying with his mother. The two went out to a bar on the night of the attack.

'Not long after they got back at the apartment and without warning, the accused attacked his mother,' the decision reads.

The reason for the assault was never made clear in evidence provided to the court, but there was some suggestion Martin was annoyed with his mother for a report she may have made to social services officials about him some months prior to the attack.

Martin pushed his mother into a chair and grabbed her glasses.

'This is very significant because (Martin's mother) indicated she has very poor eyesight without her glasses,' Faulkner wrote.

When she was in the chair, Martin kneed his mother in the face. She sat there dazed and badly bleeding. Martin prevented her from dealing with the wound. He then picked up a phone cord which he wrapped around her neck, proceeding to choke her.

Along with problems breathing and struggling to get free, the woman was bleeding from her nose with the blood running into her throat, causing more problems.

She eventually decided her only chance of survival was to cease resistance. At that point, her son stopped the attack and eventually went to the washroom. He picked up a towel and threw it at her, presumably so she could clean up, read the decision. He then told her that she should go to bed.

In her room, she was afraid to sleep due to the bleeding.

'She knew that she should seek medical attention, but her son lay down in the doorway to prevent her from leaving,' Faulkner wrote.

At some point through the night, he also rigged up a sort of alarm system made up of tape, string, a broom and bucket in front of her door.

When she tried leaving again a few hours later, Martin was awake but didn't prevent her from leaving.

She took a cordless phone with her and, as she was going to a friend's apartment in the same building, called 911.

By the time the RCMP arrived, Martin had fled.

His mother was taken to Whitehorse General Hospital, where she was treated for a fractured nose. There were also marks on her throat and bruising on her chest and back.

Ultimately, surgery was needed on her nose to repair a nasal obstruction.

While Faulkner acknowledged Martin's guilty plea, he pointed out it came after the trial was set and Martin's mother had testified in court.

The trial originally got underway last Oct. 24 with the Crown's case being heard. It was then adjourned at the request of the accused and adjourned again on another date. Set for continuation in January, Martin made his guilty plea to the two counts.

In granting the 12 months' time served at a credit of 1 1/2 times for the eight months Martin was in jail before the decision, Faulkner noted the lengthy time is largely a result of how the man chose to conduct his defence.

In addition to the 16-month sentence, the 18-month probation term will include the following conditions:

• keep the peace and be of good behaviour;

• report to court as and when required;

• report upon release to a probation officer and thereafter as directed;

• advise the probation officer in advance of any change of name or address and promptly notify him of any change in occupation or employment;

• reside at such a place as probation officer directs and approves;

• abstain from possession, consumption of alcohol or controlled drugs or substances except when prescribed by a medical practitioner;

• no contact direct or indirect with his mother except with prior permission of the probation officer in consultation with his mother; and

-� take assessments and counselling as directed.

Martin is also prohibited from owning a firearm, ammunition or explosive substance for five years after his release and must provide bodily samples for DNA evidence.