WELLINGTON - A white supremacist who shot and killed 51 people at two New Zealand mosques in 2019 launched an appeal on Feb 9 seeking to overturn his conviction.
Brenton Tarrant, an Australian former gym instructor, admitted carrying out New Zealand’s deadliest modern-day mass shooting before being sentenced to life in jail in August 2020.
Now, the convicted killer argues that his “torturous and inhumane” detention conditions during his trial made him incapable of making rational decisions when he pleaded guilty, according to a court synopsis of the case.
If the Court of Appeal in Wellington upholds his conviction, it would hold a separate hearing later in the year to consider an appeal against his sentence.
His penalty of life imprisonment without parole was the stiffest in New Zealand history.
Tarrant filed his appeal out of time, so would need the court’s leave for it to proceed.