A Yellowknife cab driver who left his passenger with two black eyes following an attack last year was sentenced to eight months house of arrest Wednesday.

Matar Mahamed Mohamud, 49, was convicted of assault causing bodily harm after a judge alone trial in May.

In the early hours of July 24, 2017, Mohamud picked up a highly intoxicated man in downtown Yellowknife.

MohamudSA国际影视传媒檚 passenger only had debit to pay for his fare. That led to a dispute between the two, which turned physical outside of the McDonaldSA国际影视传媒檚 on Old Airport Road.

Mohamud assaulted the passenger, striking him three times in the face.

At trial, MohamudSA国际影视传媒檚 lawyer argued his client was acting in self-defence, and that the drunk passenger was the aggressor.

Based on the evidence of a passerby who witnessed the assault in progress, Judge Garth Malakoe rejected that claim, finding Mohamud guilty.

During sentencing submissions in territorial court Wednesday, Crown attorney Brendan Green called for a sentence - a one-year conditional sentence followed by one-year probation - that would reflect the aggravating aspects of the attack.

The victim, Green said, was drunk, vulnerable and defenseless when he was assaulted by Mohamud - a taxi driver in a position of trust.

SA国际影视传媒淲hen people call a taxi, they call for a safe ride home,SA国际影视传媒� said Green.

Under a city bylaw, no taxi driver can hold a chauffeurSA国际影视传媒檚 permit if theySA国际影视传媒檝e been convicted of an offence while on duty.

On Wednesday, Malakoe asked Mohamud, who was employed by Aurora Taxi at the time of the assault, if he had been working as a cab driver following his conviction.

Mohamud said he had been due to a misunderstanding of the bylaw.

He is now out of a job.

MohamudSA国际影视传媒檚 lawyer, Leslie Moore, called for a suspended sentence followed by 18-months probation. Pointing to his clientSA国际影视传媒檚 pre-sentence report - insight into an offenderSA国际影视传媒檚 background that helps shape a judgeSA国际影视传媒檚 sentence - Moore said not all intoxicated people who get into a cab are defenseless and vulnerable.

SA国际影视传媒�(Mohamud) knows full well the dangers of driving a cab, particularly when people are drunk,SA国际影视传媒� said Moore.

In 2015, while driving his cab in Yellowknife, Mohamud was assaulted and robbed by three passengers. His pre-sentence report recounts one attacker pulling his seatbelt from behind, pinning him to his seat, while another man punched him in the face repeatedly. He detailed lasting injuries in the report as a result of the attack.

In handing down his sentence, Malakoe took the violent event into account.

Malakoe found that such an assault would have had an effect on the way Mohamud reacted during the 2017 assault. The experience, Malakoe said, reduced MohamudSA国际影视传媒檚 moral blameworthiness.

But the crime was too serious not to attract imprisonment, he said.

SA国际影视传媒淲hen someone in Yellowknife phones a cab for a ride he or she must be able to expect the driver will get them to their destination safely,SA国际影视传媒� said Malakoe, adding Mohamud was entrusted with the victimSA国际影视传媒檚 safety as a taxi driver.

Asked if he wanted to speak before being sentenced, Mohamud, through a Sudanese interpreter, asked Malakoe if he could appeal the conviction. Malakoe said he can if he chooses to after sentencing.

Following eight months of house arrest - he can only leave his residence for medical emergencies, to seek work and buy groceries - Mohamud will be on probation for one year. HeSA国际影视传媒檚 barred from contacting the victim.

MohamudSA国际影视传媒檚 case is the second sentencing involving a violent incident between a cab driver and their passenger this year. In March, a B.C. man was sentenced to a 15-month conditional sentence followed by 18-months of probation for what a territorial judge called a SA国际影视传媒渧iciousSA国际影视传媒� attack on a Yellowknife taxi driver in 2016.