Source: Radio New Zealand
Fifty-one people were killed in two attacks on mosques in Christchurch in 2019. RNZ / Nathan Mckinnon
The Christchurch terrorist made almost 700 complaints about life behind bars but his claims of torturous prison conditions are exaggerated, a court has heard.
Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant made the 686 complaints from 16 March 2019 until September 2024, amounting to more than one complaint every three days.
The 35-year-old is serving a life sentence without parole for the 2019 shootings at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre but now wants the Court of Appeal to overturn his convictions and sentence.
The terrorist claims he was “forced” to plead guilty to 92 charges because he was irrational as a result of torturous and inhumane prison conditions.
The white supremacist left 51 people dead or dying in little over 15 minutes after taking an arsenal of semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and incendiary devices to the mosques as worshippers marked Jumu’ah – the most significant prayer of the Muslim week – and opening fire.
The terrorist initially pleaded not guilty in June 2019 to 51 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one of committing terrorism.
The court has heard he wavered in late July 2019 and prepared to plead guilty before again changing his mind only days later.
In March 2020 he formally pleaded guilty to all charges and was jailed for life without the possibility of parole in August 2020.
The terrorist had 20 working days to file an appeal against his conviction or sentence but the “out of time” application came years later.
Crown solicitor Andrea Ewing told the court only four of the terrorist’s 686 complaints related to accessing a lawyer.
She said the terrorist had claimed a complaint was upheld in relation to some kind of physical incident.
“So what we have is a hearsay assertion from Mr Tarrant to his expert that a complaint was upheld,” she said.
The Crown called on the court to dismiss the terrorist’s application for leave to appeal.
Crown solicitor Madeleine Laracy said there was no possible risk of a miscarriage because the terrorist had no legal defence to offer a trial and conviction was certain.
She also called on the court to provide finality for his victims, New Zealand’s Muslim community and the wider public.
“There are literally hundreds of directly harmed victims in this case and keeping this case alive is source of immense distress for those individuals,” Laracy said.
The terrorist’s lawyers reiterated the conditions their client was confined in were unlike anything else present in the prison system.
Justices Christine French, Susan Thomas and David Collins reserved their decision.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
