Man sentenced for wielding machete in Whitehorse armed robbery

A 21-year-old Edmonton man is serving two more years in the Whitehorse Correctional Centre after wielding a machete during a holdup at a downtown cellphone repair shop last year. 

Benjamin Harper was sentenced in Yukon Territorial Court on Friday for armed robbery.

The court heard that the shop owner, two employees and a customer were in the shop when Harper and then 24-year-old James Graham entered and demanded money on Feb. 24, 2015.

The owner handed over $310, but that angered the robbers, who expected more. Harper told Graham to punch the man, which he did before the two fled in a getaway vehicle.

They were spotted a short time later at a Porter Creek home already under surveillance by the police. The RCMP were investigating a drive-by shooting that occurred five days earlier.

The two men were arrested downtown that evening. 

Harper was also sentenced Friday for assault causing bodily harm for participating in an assault on a rival gang member at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.

He was sentenced to a total of 44 months in jail, and credited 20 months for the more than 12 months he's already spent in custody.

He has two years less a day left to serve.

Graham has already been sentenced to three years. 

Harper will be returned to Edmonton to face other charges when his Yukon jail time is done.

Judge Donald Luther urged the young man to turn his life around.

"What a useless life that is, bouncing in and out of jail," Luther said.