Christchurch Mosque Gunman Seeks New Trial, Claims He Was Not Mentally Fit When He Pleaded Guilty

Brenton Tarrant, the gunman and white supremacist who killed 51 Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, has applied for a new trial, claiming he was not mentally fit when he pleaded guilty to the charges against him.

Tarrant, a 35-year-old Australian national, appeared via video link before the New Zealand Court of Appeal in Wellington on Monday. He told the court that the harsh conditions under which he was held in prison severely damaged his mental health, leaving him unable to make rational and informed decisions at the time he admitted to the crimes.

In March 2019, Tarrant opened fire at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques during Friday prayers, killing 51 people and injuring many others. The attack was the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand’s history. He used military-style weapons and livestreamed the attack on Facebook.

Initially, Tarrant denied all charges and was preparing to stand trial. However, he later pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, and one charge of terrorism.

According to court documents, the Court of Appeal will examine whether Tarrant lacked the capacity to make a sound decision when he entered his guilty pleas, allegedly due to the severe and inhumane conditions of his detention.

Tarrant is currently serving a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole—the first such sentence in New Zealand’s legal history. The appeal hearing is scheduled to last five days and is expected to conclude on Friday.

If the court rejects his request to overturn his guilty pleas, a separate hearing on his appeal against the sentence will be held later in the year. However, if the pleas are set aside, the case will be referred back to the High Court for a new trial.

Family members of some of the victims attended the hearing in Wellington. Rashid Omar, whose son Tariq was killed in the attack, described Tarrant’s move as “a waste of time and taxpayers’ money,” accusing him of attempting to inflict further pain on the victims’ families.

Following the 2019 attack, the New Zealand government tightened gun control laws to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.