Brenton Tarrant is jailed for LIFE with no possibility of parole for Christchurch shooting

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Brenton Tarrant, the Christchurch mosques terrorist, has been sentenced to life in jail without the possibility of parole. 

The Australian man has been denied the possibility of ever seeking or gaining his freedom after killing 51 worshippers during the March 2019 mass murders.

It is the first time a full-life term has been imposed in New Zealand.

For three days at this week’s sentencing, Tarrant sat unmoved as a procession of his victims – 91 in all – made powerful and emotionally-charged statements of their loss.

On Thursday, his gaze was fixed on the Crown solicitors who argued for a life sentencing without parole, and Justice Cameron Mander, who agreed to lock him up and to throw away the key. 

‘It is difficult to look past the wickedness of each murder … however you are not only a murderer but a terrorist,’ Justice Mander said.

‘Your actions were inhuman. You deliberately killed a three-year-old infant as he clung to the leg of his father.’

As victims in the public gallery sobbed, Justice Mander took the time to make a verbal tribute to every murdered and wounded person in his sentence.

One widow described herself as ‘alive but not living’.

‘Accountability, denouncement, deterrence, and protection of the community must be the court’s focus,’ Justice Mander said.

‘No matter how appalling the crime, the potential for rehabilitation must always give a court pause … but I remain unmoved.’

Survivors stood hand in hand smiling outside of the court on Thursday afternoon after the sentence was handed down. 

The attacks targeting people praying at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques shocked New Zealand and prompted new laws banning the deadliest types of semi-automatic weapons. 

They also prompted global changes to social media protocols after the gunman livestreamed his attack on Facebook. 

Tarrant was sentenced to life without parole on each of the 51 counts of murder, for 12 years on each of the 40 attempted murder counts, to be served concurrently, and another life sentence for terrorism. 

New Zealand’s prime minster Jacinda Ardern spoke shortly after sentencing, acknowledging the strength of the Muslim community. 

‘You relived the horrific events of March 15 to chronicle what happened that day … I hope you felt the arms of New Zealand around you.’

She went on to say there would be no need to think of Tarrant or remember him beyond today.

‘He deserves a lifetime of complete and utter silence.’

There are now mounting calls for the killer to be deported back to Australia to serve his time.

However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he has not received a request for the terrorist to serve his life sentence in Australia. 

‘It’s normal practice that criminals convicted of these offences to serve their sentences in that jurisdiction and that’s my understanding of what the arrangements are,’ Mr Morrison said.

‘No request has been made to Australia for that to be any different.’

The prime minister paid tribute to survivors of the New Zealand shootings, saying he and wife Jenny Morrison met with a group who showed incredible grace.

In making his argument, crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh drew on Australia’s worst mass shooting, the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania.

‘The enormity of offending in this case is without comparison in New Zealand’s criminal history,’ he began.

Mr Zarifeh said Tarrant displayed ‘calculated and militaristic determination in carrying out his plan’, ‘expressed disappointment in not having killed more people’ with ‘calculated sadism and depravity’. 

‘Many of those who were shot were on their knees in prayer with their backs to the offender,’ he said.

‘Life without parole is the only proper sentencing option.’

As foreshadowed on Wednesday, Tarrant did not speak at his own sentencing despite opting to represent himself.

He uttered just a smattering of words over the four-day hearing, saying ‘No, thank you’ when Justice Mander gave him one final chance to address the packed courtroom.

His stand-by counsel Philip Hall said Tarrant did not oppose the sentence of life without parole.

Throughout the sentencing, New Zealand’s worst mass shooter was a passive presence.

Surrounded by four security guards at all times and clad in a grey fleece tracksuit, he was attentive but meek in the dock.

In the absence of his own submissions, Justice Mander appointed an independent ‘amicus curiae’, Kerry Cook, to give integrity to the sentencing.

Drawing upon private sentencing reports that Tarrant had changed some of his views, Mr Cook made an argument that a no-parole sentence contravened the universality of human rights. 

‘Offending is not an inherent characteristic … there is hope, albeit faint, for rehabilitation,’ he said.

‘Rehabilitation is constitutionally required in any community that places human dignity as its centrepiece.’

According to psychologist, Tarrant ‘proudly’ saw himself as a white European with air of superiority and grandiosity.

The psychologist said at the time of the attack Tarrant was in a ‘poisoned mental state’.

He said he felt ‘ostracised by society’ and ‘wanted to damage society as act of revenge’.

Tarrant told the psychologist he ‘wasn’t thinking right at the time” and was “acting on delusional beliefs”.

Justice Mander said Tarrant had ‘no apparent mental orders or psychiatric conditions’ and there weren’t any cognitive disorders present.

‘There was no evidence of a personality disorder – but his racist beliefs ‘developed and intensified’ as he got older.

But Justice Mander dismissed those reports as ‘uncorroborated, self-serving and a relatively recent phenomenon’. 

Growing up in the northern New South Wales city of Grafton, Tarrant had an unremarkable upbringing’ and had no previous convictions. 

He moved to New Zealand in 2017 before settling in the South Island town of Dunedin where he remained isolated from the community. 

Justice Mander said Tarrant was ’empty of any empathy’ for his victims.

He said the shooter appeared entirely self-centred and remained ‘detached’.

This week admirable human dignity was on display from Tarrant’s many victims.

For three days in the High Court, they stood metres from the terrorist and bared their souls, crying for lost loved ones, reliving the trauma of being present in their houses of worship during the attacks.

Tears flowed as victims spoke about their torment following the shooting, many saying they still have trouble sleeping.

Perhaps the most startling testimony came from Ahad Nabi, who lost his 71-year-old father Haj during the attack, who described Tarrant  as ‘coward’, a ‘maggot’ and ‘the trash of society’.

Clad in a New Zealand Warriors rugby league jersey, Ahad raised both his middle fingers at Tarrant and flexed his muscles, while branding the killer ‘weak’. 

He added: ‘Your father was a garbage man and you became trash of society. He is ashamed of your identity. You deserve to be buried in a landfill. This world was created with colour, a peasant like you will never change the human race.

‘You hurt my father but you never took him away from me. What I mean by this is that you physically hurt him but you gifted my father with becoming a martyr and he’s returned to Allah.’ 

He described Tarrant as a coward after he shot at ‘defenceless people who were not aware what was going on until it was too late’. 

‘Your actions were of a gutless character. There is nothing heroic of your actions,’ Nabi said. 

Mr Nabi said he did not forgive Tarrant before asking a special request of the judge. 

Another victim, Sara Qasem, was not originally listed on the court plans but rose to speak on behalf of her father Abdelfattah, murdered at Al Noor mosque.

‘My name is Sara Qasem. Daughter of a hero. Daughter of a shining, glimmering man … daughter of a martyr. Of Abdelfattah Qasem. Remember that name,’ she said firmly.

‘My dad never left. He could have left but he stayed behind to help his brothers. Putting others before himself.’

Ms Qasem drew tears from every corner of the courtroom as she grieved for her lost father.

‘I’d never really known what the meaning of a broken heart was until then,’ she said.

‘I want to go on more road trips with him.

‘Smell his home cooking. His cologne.’

Crying, she composed herself and eyeballed Tarrant, saying ‘these tears are not for you’.

‘To hear his deep belly laugh,’ she continued.

‘I want to hear him tell me more about the olive trees in Palestine. I want to hear his voice.’

Ms Qasem’s moving testimony came alongside those who gave more pointed addresses.  

The rich displays of emotion inside the courtroom contrast sharply with the everyday collegiality in the halls of the Christchurch courthouse between sessions.

With limited space in the court due to COVID-related social distancing restrictions, victims forfeited their right to having a support person nearby to allow more victims to take seats inside the small courtroom.

They wore or carried white roses on their lapels, carried pictures of dead family members, while one carried a toy panda.