It is an unprecedented sentence in New Zealand judicial history. Christchurch mosque bomber Brenton Tarrant (30) was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of 51 Muslim worshipers on March 15, 2019.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern immediately reacted, wishing the Christchurch killer a life of "utter and utter silence".
When giving the sentence, Judge Cameron Mander, stressed that behind the “twisted” ideology of this “evil” and “inhuman” man, there was a “deep hatred” which led him to s' attack defenseless men, women and children.
"The offense was motivated by a deeply rooted racist and xenophobic ideology (...) He is clearly the worst murderer that New Zealand has known," said prosecutor Mark Zarifeh.
"Hateful thug"
Faced with the survivors overwhelmed by grief and anger who testified during these four days of hearings, the 29-year-old Australian remained unmoved. When they called him a "devil" and a "hateful thug" who destroyed lives but made the New Zealand Muslim community stronger, Brenton Tarrant just stroked his chin.
The terrorist, who chose to defend himself, challenging his lawyers last month, decided not to say a word. Before Monday, the killer had attended by video conference, from his high security prison in Auckland, the previous hearings.
During the trial, the prosecutor recounted how the Australian had on March 15, 2019 methodically shot women, children and men, while filming the killing and broadcasting it live on social networks. As well as how he had ignored pleas for pity from some victims and how he had rolled over a body while going from one mosque to another.
74-page manifesto
When he saw little Mucad Ibrahim, three, clinging to his father's leg, Brenton Tarrant executed him "with two precisely placed bullets," the prosecutor said. Before taking action, the killer had sent his 74-page "manifesto" to an extremist site.
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Judge Cameron Mander imposed drastic restrictions on media coverage of the proceedings to prevent the accused from using his trial as a platform to spread his hate messages.
This killing led the government to toughen the gun law and step up its efforts to fight extremism on the internet.