No letters sent to Muslim victims

Corrections knows exactly who the Christchurch terror accused has written to from his cell at New Zealand’s toughest prison — and who has contacted him.

But to protect his privacy it will not disclose any specifics of the correspondence, other than to confirm none of the letters went to any member of the Muslim community or victims connected with his alleged murderous rampage.

Brenton Tarrant is on remand at Auckland Prison awaiting trial, accused of murdering 51 people and wounding almost the same number at two Christchurch mosques on March 15.

Earlier this week it was revealed that the accused had sent seven letters out of prison, with one published online and containing a “call to arms” and details of his political leanings.

The accused sent two letters to his mother Sharon Tarrant.

“We absolutely know who he has written to and who has written to him . . . but we can’t go into details, the law prevents us,” a spokeswoman said.

Corrections chief executive Christine Stevenson confirmed two further letters the accused had written were not posted after being viewed by prison staff.

“Two letters were withheld from being sent because the content was deemed inappropriate,” she said.

Stevenson now gets the final say as to whether any of the accused’s letters are sent, but before they get to her letters would be examined and analysed by a “multi disciplinary team” including prison staff, psychologists and partner agencies with “specialist knowledge”.

“But the final decision will be me,” she said.

“I am taking the accountability of that very, very seriously.”

At least 15,000 letters are sent from prisons across New Zealand each week. Stevenson said it was impossible for staff to monitor every word.

Stevenson was travelling to Auckland Prison to spend time with the team tasked with looking after the accused. She said the staff were “distraught” about what had happened with the letters.