<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The man who killed 51 Muslim worshipers at two mosques in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/new-zealand" rel="" target="" title="New Zealand"><span>New Zealand</span></a><span>’s deadliest mass </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/shootings" rel="" target="" title="shooting "><span>shooting</span></a><span> told an appeals court on Monday that he felt forced to admit to the crimes because of “irrationality” due to harsh prison conditions, as he sought to have his guilty pleas discarded.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A panel of three judges at the Court of Appeal in Wellington will hear five days of evidence about Brenton Tarrant’s claim that he was not fit to plead to the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/terrorism" rel="" target="" title="terrorism"><span>terrorism</span></a><span>, murder and attempted </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/murder" rel="" target="" title="murder "><span>murder</span></a><span> charges he faced after the 2019 attack in the city of Christchurch.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>If his bid is successful, his case would return to court for a trial, which was averted when he admitted to the hate-fueled shooting in March 2020.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>HAPPENING NOW:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/israeli-president-visit-to-australia-huge-protests-expected/40b56f1b-3d34-4f03-bf25-282d4937abb0" target="_blank"><strong><span>Israeli president labels Bondi massacre 'attack on Australians' during visit</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He is also </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/brenton-tarrant-christchurch-mosque-terrorist-appeals-conviction-and-sentence/baf4413f-a7f8-441f-8db5-e147f928d04a" rel="" target="" title="seeking to appeal his sentence of life "><span>seeking to appeal his sentence of life</span></a><span> without the chance of parole, which had never been imposed in New Zealand before.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tarrant’s evidence on Monday about his mental state when he pleaded guilty was the first time he had spoken substantively in a public setting since he livestreamed the 2019 massacre on Facebook.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.nine.com.au/sport/super-bowl-2026-lx-live-scores-new-england-patriots-seattle-seahawks-results-halftime-show-highlights-news-20260209-p5o0kp.html" target="_blank"><strong><span>Bad Bunny's half-time show lights up the Super Bowl</span></strong></a></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/christchurch-terror-attack-new-zealand-mosque-shooter-seeks-to-discard-his-guilty-pleas/d234c960-173a-4372-8a14-e9f0a9674ed9" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Shooter says he suffered “nervous exhaustion”</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Australian man, a self-declared white supremacist, migrated to New Zealand with a view to committing the massacre, which he planned in detail.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He amassed a cache of semiautomatic weapons, took steps to avoid detection and wrote a lengthy manifesto before he drove from Dunedin to Christchurch in March 2019 and opened fire at two mosques.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Along with 51 people killed, the youngest a three-year-old boy, dozens of others were severely wounded.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The attack was considered one of New Zealand’s darkest days and institutions have sought to curb the spread of Tarrant’s message through legal orders and a ban on possession of his manifesto or video of the attack.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LATEST:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/cyclone-mitchell-forecast-campsite-mines-evacuated-as-cyclone-approaches-coast/dc27c584-7921-45ef-a0fa-e010244f5868" target="_blank"><strong><span>'Too late to leave' as Cyclone Mitchell whips up 140 km/h winds</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Monday’s hearing took place under tight security constraints that severely limited who could view Tarrant’s evidence, which included some reporters and those hurt or bereaved in the massacre.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tarrant, who wore a white button-down shirt and black-rimmed glasses and had a shaved head, spoke on video from a white-walled room in prison.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Answering questions from a Crown lawyer and from lawyers representing him, Tarrant, 35, said his mental health had deteriorated due to conditions in prison, where he was held in solitary confinement with limited reading material or contact with other prisoners.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>By the time he pleaded guilty, Tarrant said he was suffering from “nervous exhaustion” and uncertainty about his identity and beliefs and that he had admitted to the crimes a few months before his trial was due to begin because there was “little else I could do,” he told the court.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Crown lawyers say no evidence of serious mental illness</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Crown lawyer Barnaby Hawes suggested to Tarrant during questioning that the Australian man had other options.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He could have requested a delay in his trial date on mental health grounds or could have proceeded to trial and defended himself, Hawes said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/nancy-guthrie-savannah-guthrie-usa-kidnapping-investigation/d56d2408-7704-4596-bec9-db346aefeee9" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Police examine septic tank in search for US TV host's missing mother</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hawes also put to Tarrant that there was little evidence in the documentation of his behavior by mental health experts and prison staff that he was in any kind of serious mental crisis. Tarrant suggested that signs of mental illness he displayed hadn’t been recorded and that at times he had sought to mask them.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“I was definitely doing everything possible to come across as confident, assured, mentally well,” he told the court.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tarrant’s behavior “reflected the political movement I’m a part of,” he added. “So I always wanted to put on the best front possible.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He agreed that he had had access to legal advice throughout the court process. Tarrant’s current lawyers have been granted name suppression because they feared representing him would make them unsafe.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.nine.com.au/sport/olympics/milano-cortina-2026-lindsey-vonn-crash-womens-downhill-skiing-final-video-reaction-acl-injury-analysis-20260209-p5o0oz.html" target="_blank"><strong><span>'Stop the nonsense': Vonn's failed gamble divides the world</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>The appeal outcome is due later</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bids to appeal convictions or sentences in New Zealand must be made within 20 working days. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tarrant was about two years late in seeking an appeal, filing documents with the court in September 2022.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He told the court on Monday that his bid had been late because he hadn’t had access to the information required to make it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The hearing is due to run for the rest of the week but the judges are expected to release their decision at a later date.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>If they reject Tarrant’s attempt to have his guilty pleas discarded, a later hearing will focus on his bid to appeal his sentence.</span></div></div>