A NZ court has rejected a bid by the Australian man who killed 51 Muslims in Christchurch in 2019 to appeal against his guilty pleas.
New Zealand’s Court of Appeal in Wellington ruled unanimously on April 30 that Brenton Harrison Tarrant’s bid to appeal his convictions, filed 505 days out of time, was “utterly devoid of merit”.
In a media statement, it ruled that he “should not be granted leave to abandon his conviction appeal and application for an extension of time”; click here for the full statement
The man had appealed the pleas and sentences, arguing that they were not made voluntarily due to his mental state at the time caused by his imprisonment.
“His application to appeal his sentence ‘out of time’ is now at an end. Tarrant’s application for an extension of time to appeal his convictions is declined,” the court statement read.
“This Court does not accept Tarrant’s evidence about his mental state in the period leading up to his guilty pleas. There are inconsistencies in Tarrant’s own evidence about the severity of his mental state.”
The Court noted that his evidence was at complete odds with the observations of NZ prison officials, most mental health professionals and with the evidence of his trial counsel.
“He was not suffering from a mental impairment or any other form of mental incapacity which rendered him unable to voluntarily enter guilty pleas,” they ruled.
“This Court finds that Tarrant’s guilty pleas were voluntary; he was not coerced or pressured in any way to plead guilty.
“The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that he was not suffering any significant psychological impacts as a result of his prison conditions at the time he pleaded guilty.”
NZ MOVES
The man had moved to New Zealand in 2017 to plan a white supremacist attack.
He attacked two mosques on March 15, 2019 and killed and wounded worshippers, live-streaming part of the assault on Facebook.
His car was rammed and he was arrested by police reportedly on his way to a third mosque.
Former NZ PM Jacinda Ardern’s government subsequently banned military semi-automatic rifles and created a firearms registry while an inquiry into the attacks is still under way.
On March 26, 2020, Tarrant pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of carrying out a terrorist attack.
He was convicted of all 92 offences and in August that year sentenced to life in jail without parole.
In November 2022, he filed an appeal against his convictions and sentencing, and asked for more time to organise it.
