Aussie guilty of slayings
WITH just four words, an Australian white supremacy terrorist admitted he slaughtered 51 Muslim worshippers, and tried to kill another 40, in a stunning reversal during a hastily arranged court hearing.
“Oh, OK, yes guilty,” Brenton Tarrant nonchalantly told Christchurch’s High Court via video link from his prison cell after being asked how he pleaded to mass murder and attempted murder at two Christchurch mosques on March 15 last year.
There was no emotion, no fanfare and the High Court benches were almost empty as the 29-year-old appeared on screen to enter his new plea.
What changed his mind remains unknown. One year after his crime, Tarrant, from Grafton in northern NSW, had earlier this week told his lawyers Shane Tait and Jonathan Hudson he wanted to change his plea to guilty.
Like most cities in the world, Christchurch is in lockdown due to the coronavirus crisis, so court clerks had no time to warn families.
Even if they had been alerted, the families and the public would not have been permitted to attend. Instead, imams from the two mosques attacked in the shooting spree, Gamal Fouda of Al Noor and Alibi Lateef from Linwood Islamic Centre, represented the families. They were not told why they were attending court and wept as the guilty plea was made. Also in court were five journalists, Tarrant’s two lawyers, the officer in charge of the investigation Detective Inspector Greg Murton, the Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes and court staff.
After the names of all 51 murder victims and 40 wounded were read out in court, Justice Cameron Mander asked how he pleaded. Tarrant responded: “Oh, OK, yes guilty.”
Justice Mander immediately convicted Tarrant on all charges and said a sentencing date would be set on May 1, after COVID-19 restrictions were expected to be lifted and a full hearing could take place.
His new plea has spared victims’ families and the community some grief from what was expected to be a lengthy and graphic jury trial that was to be held from June 2.
NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the plea change was a relief. “These guilty pleas and conviction bring accountability for what happened and also save the families who lost loved ones, those who were injured, and other witnesses, the ordeal of a trial,” she said.