‘We’ll never see or hear from him again’

Life without parole for NZ mosque killer

COWARDLY mass killer Brenton Tarrant will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole for the “wicked” slaughter of 51 innocent people, a judge ruled yesterday.

In a first for New Zealand’s legal system, Justice Cameron Mander rejected the possibility of parole, saying Tarrant’s crimes were so inhumane even life in jail was not sufficient punishment.

There are now calls for Australia to be forced to take back the white supremacist and keep him in our jails. Tarrant, 29, a former gym instructor from Grafton, NSW, had pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one of terrorism over his shooting rampage in a Christchurch mosque on March 15 last year.

There was jubilation outside the courtroom as the sentence was read out, with crowds cheering and singing God Defend New Zealand.

Judge Mander said Tarrant’s “warped” ideology and “base hatred” led to the murders. “Your crimes are so wicked, that even if you are detained until you die it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation,” Judge Mander said. “Your actions were inhumane … you showed no mercy. You remain entirely self-absorbed, you have offered no apology or acknowledgment of the harm you caused.”

Tarrant (pictured) declined to address the court before sentencing.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison welcomed the sentence, saying “justice … was delivered to the terrorist and murderer for his cowardly and horrific crimes”. “It is right that we will never see or hear from him ever again,” he said.

Fearing Tarrant may use the platform to spout extremist ideology, the court had imposed tight restrictions on the reporting of the case.

He had sacked his legal team and declared he would represent himself, with courtappointed lawyer Pip Hall making a brief one-line statement on his behalf.

“Mr Tarrant does not oppose the application that he should be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole,” Mr Hall said.

New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern said she hoped she would never have to hear Tarrant’s name again.

Her deputy PM Winston Peters demanded Australia take him back to serve out his sentence here.