The High Court of New Zealand sentenced Brenton Tarrant to life imprisonment on Thursday after he admitted to 51 charges of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder and a charge of committing a terrorist act during the 2019 shooting at Al Noor mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre, which he live-streamed on Facebook.

Brenton Tarrant, a 29-year-old Australian white supremacist, was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. This is the first case in New Zealand where a judge has not granted parole in such a sentence as the incident is considered the deadliest attack in the country. New Zealand does not have the death penalty as a part of its criminal justice system.

The sentencing hearing began on Monday with a significant part of the first three days dedicated to hearing victim impact statements. Tarrant did not make a statement in his defense during the hearing.

Judge Cameron Mander described Tarrant’s actions as brutal, inhuman and beyond callous. He said,”[Tarrant’s] crimes are so wicked, that even if [he is] detained until [death] it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern welcomed the sentence and said:”The trauma of March 15 is not easily healed, but today I hope is the last where we have any cause to hear or utter the name of the terrorist behind it.” She also said, “He deserves to be in a lifetime of complete and utter silence.”