Lawyers say Tarrant was fit to plead, contradicting his claims of mental distress at appeal hearing
\n wellington
\nFormer lawyers for the white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers in New Zealand seven years ago told a court on Tuesday that he showed signs of anxiety during his original trial but did not appear to be depressed, media reported.
\nBrenton Tarrant, 35, is seeking to overturn his conviction in the Court of Appeal in Wellington and be granted a new trial. He told the court via a video link on Monday that harsh prison conditions had affected his mental health at the time he pleaded guilty.
\nTarrant, an Australian national, opened fire on two mosques in Christchurch in March 2019 during Friday prayers in the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand\u2019s history. He used military-style semi-automatic weapons and livestreamed the killings on Facebook with a head-mounted camera.
\nTarrant initially denied all charges and was preparing to stand trial, but entered guilty pleas in 2020 to 51 charges of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of committing a terrorist act.
\nJonathan Hudson and Shane Tait, who represented Tarrant between March 2019 and July 2020, told the court Tarrant had complained about his treatment in custody, including being handcuffed and forced to wear a suicide suit, according to a report in the New Zealand Herald.
\nHowever, the lawyers said Tarrant appeared to adjust after about a month, they said.
\nHudson told the court he \u201ctook comfort\u201d from reports by two mental health assessors, which indicated there were no problems with Tarrant\u2019s fitness to plead, the report said.
\nHe said Tarrant\u2019s mental health was consistent across the charges they faced and that he was pleased when police charged him with terrorism offences. \u201cHe wanted to be described as a terrorist,\u201d Hudson told the court, according to the New Zealand Herald report.
\nTarrant is serving a life sentence in prison without parole\u2013the first time a New Zealand court imposed a sentence requiring a person to spend the rest of their life in prison.
\nThe appeal hearing is set down for five days and is expected to conclude on Friday.
\nCounsel currently acting for Tarrant have their names and identities suppressed by order of the court and could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lawyers say Tarrant was fit to plead, contradicting his claims of mental distress at appeal hearing wellington Former lawyers for the white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers in New Zealand seven years ago told a court on Tuesday that he showed signs of anxiety during his original trial but did not appear to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530693,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-530665","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n