The Queen v Brenton Harrison Tarrant [2020] NZHC 2192 was a New Zealand sentencing case regarding Brenton Tarrant's involvement in the Christchurch mosque shootings after his guilty plea. It culminated in the first-ever life imprisonment without the possibility of parole sentence in New Zealand history.
| The Queen v Brenton Harrison Tarrant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | High Court of New Zealand |
| Decided | 2020 |
| Citation | [2020] NZHC 2192 |
| Court membership | |
| Judge sitting | Cameron M |
Sentencing
Sentencing began on 24 August 2020 before Justice Cameron Mander at the Christchurch High Court,[1] and it was televised.[2] Tarrant did not oppose the sentence proposed and declined to address the court.[3][4] The Crown prosecutors demonstrated to the court how Tarrant had meticulously planned the two shootings and more attacks,[5][6] while numerous survivors and their relatives gave victim impact statements, which were covered by national and international media.[7] Tarrant was then sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for each of the 51 murders,[8] and life imprisonment for engaging in a terrorist act and 40 attempted murders.[9] The sentence is New Zealand's first terrorism conviction.[10][11] It was also the first time that life imprisonment without parole, the maximum sentence available in New Zealand, had been imposed.[note 1] Mander said Tarrant's crimes were "so wicked that even if you are detained until you die, it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation."[9][13]