A Whitehorse man who testified he stole a pickup truck to save himself from people he thought were chasing him was sentenced to six months' incarceration and a year's probation on Friday afternoon.

Because Phillip McLeod, 30, has already been in custody for three months, he will be required to serve three more, for a total of six months.

He is also required to undergo

an outpatient forensic psychiatric assessment.

Deputy Judge Cunliffe Barnett said McLeod will also be prohibited from operating any type of motor vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles and ATVs during his probational term.

'You're off the road, period,' Barnett told the man.

Early on the morning of Oct. 8, McLeod stole a pickup truck in Porter Creek. He drove as far as the McIntyre subdivision before abandoning the vehicle. RCMP Cpl. Mark Groves pursued McLeod and arrested him at the scene.

Although McLeod was charged with failing to stop for a police officer, vehicle theft and driving while disqualified because of a previous impaired driving charge, Barnett said the most serious charge was uttering threats against Groves.

Groves testified that after McLeod abandoned the truck, he approached him from behind a parked car with his hands clasped in front of him as if he was holding a gun, and threatened to kill him.

Groves Tasered McLeod twice. He was then able to arrest him and bring him into custody without impediment.

Barnett told McLeod he was 'exceedingly fortunate' to have only been Tasered instead of shot, given the severity of his threat.

Barnett said that since Groves had only been stationed in Whitehorse for a short time, he was unaware of McLeod's previous clashes with the law, which include kidnapping, impaired driving and robbery.

An officer who was more familiar with McLeod's past, said Barnett, may have 'quite properly' used a firearm to shoot McLeod under the circumstances.

McLeod testified someone had spiked his soft drink at a party he attended in the early hours of Oct. 8, causing him to hallucinate and become paranoid.

He said he was 'fearful for his life,' and stole the truck to escape from the people he thought were chasing him.

The hallucinations continued even after he was arrested and taken into custody, said McLeod.

Barnett said he believed McLeod was in a 'temporary psychotic state' on the morning of Oct. 8.

Although defence lawyer Gord Coffin suggested an intermittent sentence in his submission, Barnett said 'these are not matters for an intermittent sentence.'

McLeod's common-law spouse, who was present at the sentencing, is due to give birth on Jan. 17.

Barnett said staff at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre may briefly release McLeod from jail during this time on compassionate grounds.

The truck McLeod stole was returned to owner Norman Goodman the same morning.