Christchurch gunman seeks to withdraw guilty plea and restart trial

Brenton Tarrant, the Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two Christchurch mosques in 2019, is asking one of New Zealand’s highest courts to vacate his guilty pleas and order a new trial. He pleaded guilty in March 2020 to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and a terrorism charge, and was sentenced in August 2020 to life in prison without the chance of release.

He filed an appeal in 2022 against both his convictions and his sentence. The court must first decide whether that appeal can proceed, because it was lodged outside the legislated time frame. The week-long hearing in Wellington begins on 9 February and Tarrant is expected to give evidence by video link; the central issue is whether he was capable of making rational decisions when he entered his guilty pleas, given imprisonment conditions he says were torturous and inhumane.

New Zealand, Christchurch

brenton tarrant, christchurch, mosque shootings, guilty plea, appeal, new zealand, life sentence, terrorism charge, wellington hearing, prison conditions