A Nunavut man has been sentenced to 4½ years in prison for two separate unprovoked attacks in Yellowknife earlier this year, one of which was nearly fatal.

In N.W.T. territorial court on Friday, Jordan Charlie pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, robbery and assaulting a peace officer in connection with the two incidents.

The 19-year-old admitted that on March 22, he saw a man walking down 50th Street in Yellowknife just before bar closing time. Court heard that he approached the man, said his cousin wanted to buy some drugs and asked if he had any to sell. The man said he had two grams of marijuana he would sell for $40.

Charlie asked the man to approach the front of the Raven nightclub. When the man did so, Charlie suddenly stabbed him in the right side of the neck and told him to hand over the marijuana. The man dropped the drugs and staggered to a nearby cab.

According to a statement of facts agreed to by both sides, blood was spurting a metre out of the man's wound when he arrived at emergency. He had lost two litres of blood by the time a surgeon tied off the artery to allow him to be medevaced to Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton.

Court was told that the man has still not recovered from his wounds — he has difficulty swallowing, he sometimes chokes on food and his speech is slurred.

Prosecutor Martha Chertkow told the judge the man has become isolated since the attack.

"He, in his words, feels like an idiot when he talks to people because of his speech," said Chertkow.

Five days after the attack, Charlie called a Yellowknife crisis line and admitted to the stabbing.

Two months after Charlie was held in custody for the knife attack and robbery, he suddenly attacked a corrections officer at the North Slave Correctional Complex.

The attack happened as Charlie was being led back to his cell, following a court appearance by video from the jail.

According to his lawyer, Charlie told the judge during his appearance that he wanted to be sent to Afghanistan or somewhere in the Middle East so he could fight for ISIS.

Surveillance video of the attack was played in court. In it, Charlie suddenly sucker-punches the male corrections officer as a door onto a hallway locks behind them. He punches the officer more than 20 times in the head and, after he falls to the ground, continues punching and kicking him in the head until he's pepper-sprayed by another officer.

Despite the viciousness of the attack, the officer suffered no permanent injuries and was back at work after two days off, according to the prosecutor.

"He has had an incredibly sad upbringing," Charlie's lawyer, Balji Rattan, said in court. "The issues that he has, although reported, have never been dealt with."

Psychiatrists who have examined Charlie say he has an IQ of 54. He suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Rattan said Charlie was born into an alcoholic home and apprehended by social services. He's spent his life in foster homes and group homes.

Although Charlie has been sent to Edmonton and Ontario for treatment, Rattan said being sent to large southern centres where he knows no one has not been helpful. She said the help Charlie needs is not available in the North.

"It makes one wonder whether we live in two different countries, one for southern Canadians and one for northerners," Rattan said to the judge.

Charlie has attempted suicide by hanging, by drinking cleaning fluid and by swallowing broken glass, Rattan said. Two days before stabbing the man on 50th Street, Charlie called his caseworker in Nunavut and said he was going to stab someone or himself.

He has been hospitalized in Yellowknife at least three times for mental-health issues, said Rattan. She told the judge if Charlie does not get the attention he requires soon, he's doomed to become a lifetime repeat offender.

With credit for the time he's already spent in jail, Charlie has three years and nine months left to serve. The judge recommended he be given whatever treatment and counselling is appropriate while serving his sentence.