THROW AWAY THE CELL KEY
AN introductory line from an old radio crime serial, The Shadow, used to ask “who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men”. In recent days we have seen evil unmasked and heard from a long line of victims’ families about just what evil was capable of when white supremacist gunman Brenton Tarrant stormed two mosques in Christchurch, massacring 51 innocent men, women and children.
Tarrant’s 20-minute rampage during Friday prayers on March 15 last year sparked worldwide revulsion, aggravated by his sickening decision to capture the bloodbath on camera and use social media to broadcast it. And what particularly horrified people everywhere was the way the terrible images were able to be out there for so long before any attempt was made to turn the live video and the replays off.
That day demonstrated just what evil can do and what lies in the hearts of many.
Tarrant can take some dubious credit by choosing to plead guilty and not seeking to address the court, sparing survivors and families the dreadful spectacle of a killer using the sentencing as a platform to spout a manifesto of hatred. But there will be no leniency for this man, with Judge Cameron Mander yesterday putting the Australian – oh, the shame – where he ought to be: behind bars, with the keys thrown away. There will be no parole, ever.
What we also witnessed this week though was the incredible dignity of speaker after speaker as they delivered their impact statements. Of course there was anger, but it was contained and a demonstration of how decent people can rise above such hatred and cowardly violence and not let the actions of someone like Tarrant tear down communities that are home to people of all races, cultures and religions.
One of them, John Milne – father of 14year-old Sayyad who was shot in the head while praying – spoke of the “huge hole” in his heart because his beloved son would never come home. Despite this, he said he had forgiven Tarrant and was sure his son had too. But he urged the judge to “please ... send Brenton (Tarrant) back to Australia where he came from”.
We understand such a sentiment. We also understand that New Zealand Cabinet documents show it will cost them about $3.3 million to keep the grub in maximum security just for the next two years.
But we must caution our New Zealand friends that such a move down the track would not be wise, because parole boards in Australia have form for letting serious criminals back out into the community. Tarrant has zero prospect of being rehabilitated so must stay locked up.