The man who killed 51 Muslim worshippers at mosques in Christchurch is considering appealing against his life sentence, saying his guilty plea after the 2019 attack was obtained under duress, his lawyer told state radio on Monday.
White supremacist Brenton Tarrant, 31, was sentenced to jail for life without parole last year for the murder of 51 people and attempted murder of 40 others at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15 2019 — the worst mass shooting in the country’s history.
It was the first time a court in New Zealand had sentenced a person to prison for the rest of their life.
Tarrant’s lawyer, Tony Ellis, told Radio New Zealand he was advised by his client that he pleaded guilty last year because of “inhumane and degrading treatment” he experienced while awaiting trial.
Ellis, who only took over as Tarrant’s lawyer recently, has made the claim on his client’s behalf in a memo to the coroner’s court that has launched an investigation into all aspects of the Christchurch attack and whether due processes were followed.—Agencies
