BRENTON Harrison Tarrant, 29-year-old Australian who slaughtered 51 persons in a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand has been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, the first sentence of it’s kind in the country.
According to a report, the judge, Cameron Mander gave the sentence because Tarrant’s action was ‘inhumane’.
“Your actions were inhuman, you deliberately killed a 3-year-old infant by shooting him in the head as he clung to the leg of his father,” the judge said.
The judge said although Tarrant recently told a psychiatrist that he now rejects his extremist views and considers his attacks “abhorrent and irrational.”
“You committed mass murder, you slaughtered unarmed and defenceless people. You maimed, wounded and crippled many others. Your victims include the young and the old, men, women and children,” the judge further stated.
However, he maintained that he was skeptical Tarrant had abandoned his ideology, especially considering that the gunman told police after the attacks he wished he’d killed more people.
The sitting judge added that the convict had shown no empathy toward his victims and remained detached and self-centered.
In March, Tarrant had pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism, reversing his earlier not guilty pleas.
After Tarrant fired his lawyer because he didn’t wish to speak at his hearing, a standby lawyer appointed by the court told the Mander that Tarrant did not oppose the maximum sentence.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94