Flowers and messages of support and love were placed on Deans Ave where Liam Beale helped save the lives of people shot in the terror attack. Photo / Michael Craig
Flowers and messages of support and love were placed on Deans Ave where Liam Beale helped save the lives of people shot in the terror attack. Photo / Michael Craig
Terrorist Brenton Tarrant’s sister has given evidence at the inquest into his deadly attack on two Christchurch mosques - revealing he once “admitted he thought he was a sociopath” and “idolised” Hitler.
And a firearms expert has told the court the Australian national’s weapons skills were “very low-level” and he used them in a “chaotic” and “cumbersome” way during the deadly attack.
This week Deputy Chief Coroner Brigitte Windley resumed the inquest into the mass murder, with a focus on how the Australian-born killer obtained his licence to own and use guns in New Zealand.
In late 2017 Tarrant was assessed by police as a “fit and proper person” to hold a standard firearms licence.
In the second phase of the lengthy inquest, Deputy Chief Coroner Windley is looking to identify any errors, failures or deficiencies in the police assessment of Tarrant’s application.
Deputy Chief Coroner Brigitte Windley. Photo / Pool
“We will consider whether that licence was a critical element that enabled Mr Tarrant to undertake the attack in the manner and on the deadly scale he did,” she said.
“We’ll also look at whether gaps or loopholes in the legislation as it related to military-style semiautomatic weapons (MSSAs) were known by Mr Tarrant and factored into his decision to move to New Zealand and enabled him to mount and execute an attack with such deadly effect.
“We need to explore whether - in the absence of errors or deficiencies in the licensing regime or the gap in the law related to MSSAs - Mr Tarrant’s plans might not have come to fruition, or the effect of the attack lessened.”
Deputy Chief Coroner Windley has heard from police staff involved in Tarrant’s licensing and from a gaming friend and his parent, who acted as referees.
The “friend” had only met the terrorist in person on three occasions.
The parent told the inquest he had only interacted with the soon-to-be mass murderer on two occasions.
Today Lauren Tarrant’s evidence - her statement to police and a brief written for the inquest - was read in court.
Deputy Chief Coroner Windley said while Lauren Tarrant had provided the brief, she was unwilling to engage with the inquest process any further.
A statement she gave police was read in court and can be reported.
Lauren Tarrant said her brother began playing first-person shooter video games when he was about 6 - and became “obsessed”.
He was deeply impacted by his parents’ divorce and later, the death of his father. A shoulder injury then followed, preventing him from training at the gym, resulting in a “loss of direction”.
“He had undertaken some soul searching ... and questioned what kind of person he was. He admitted to me that he thought he may be a sociopath and didn’t care for people,” said Laurent Tarrant.
“His routine went to the wayside and he began staying up late at night on the internet and drinking Coke Zero,” Laurent Tarrant said in her statement.
He decided to travel and spent time in Asia, returning " a changed person”.
“He regularly spoke politics, culture and history, including a lot of discussion on past wars and communism,” his sister said.
Tarrant travelled again to Nepal, Tibet, Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Austria, Slovenia, Poland, Ethiopia, Jordan and Spain.
When he came back, his “hate towards persons of African descent” was “elevated to the point he would refer to them by (a Nazi reference) and say they were inferior people”.
“It was around this time his far-right rhetoric increased and he was spending time on (an online chat site). I believe he soaked it up and it gave further weight to his changing attitude ... was chatting with like-minded communities that normalises these thoughts.
“I recall Brenton regularly talking about Hitler ... idolised him ... to the point knowing everything about him.”
Lauren Tarrant said her brother’s behaviour was “escalating” and he said he did not visit “particular Western countries he considered were too racially mixed”, such as the UK.
During his next trip to Europe, he shaved his head. He claimed it was “cheaper” than getting regular haircuts.
“I had concerns this was further signs of his Nazi interests,” his sister said.
Terrorist Brenton Tarrant listens to Crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh during his four-day sentencing in the High Court at Christchurch. Photo / John Kirk-Anderson
In 2017 Tarrant moved to Dunedin, telling his sister he liked the Scottish ancestry and the European-style architecture.
He told her in a phone call that he “might take up shooting” and she questioned him as he’d “never shown interest before”.
“He spoke about gun legislation... indicated I may expect a call from police (in NZ) in regards to a character reference. We discussed the logistics of him having a gun safe in a rental property and the approval process,” said Lauren Tarrant.
“He sent me photos of all his guns including an (assault rifle). We discussed why they are so good ... they are the gun of choice for large-scale public shootings in America because they are cheap and easy to get.
“His use of firearms seemed to go hand-in-hand with what he was spouting or discussing online. He always spoke of a race war… I assumed he would acting in part of a group... That he would be strung along by others.
“It never entered my thoughts he would take a step by himself and be a lone wolf.”
Later Lauren Tarrant spoke to her brother about his plans. She encouraged him to get a job but he said he did not need one - he still had an inheritance left from his father and “when money ran out he would kill himself”.
She told him “don’t do anything stupid, come back home”.
He refused, saying he “liked New Zealand” and “wouldn’t be able to bring his guns”.
“I thought he might attempt to commit suicide. I told Mum we need to concentrate on getting Brenton back to Australia so we can really keep an eye on him.”
In late 2018 Tarrant visited his family and said he was planning on moving to Ukraine.
“Dunedin was not the place he thought it was - it was too multicultural,” Lauren Tarrant said.
“I was concerned he was moving to be with like-minded people... I asked if he was moving to Ukraine to join the militia. He jokingly responded: ‘What militia would I join over there’.”
On March 15 - shortly before the attack in Christchurch - Tarrant sent his mother and sister messages.
Lauren Tarrant read the first part and “began to panic”.
“I immediately called Brenton but he did not answer. I left him a voice message telling him not to do it. I remember yelling and swearing and pleading for him to call me back,” she told the police.
“Initially I thought Brenton was in Ukraine already and doing something ridiculous.”
Soon afterwards she was told about a report on the television news about an attack on Christchurch mosques.
“I asked if anyone was dead, was it Brenton, were there any others - or was it just Brenton,” she recalled.
She and her mother contacted police.
“Later that night - I saw on TV that Brenton had live-streamed it and written a manifesto.
“During my last conversation with Brenton on Thursday 14 March he was calmly spoken. He seemed calmer than normal.”
Earlier today the inquest heard from firearms expert Shane Hepi about Tarrant’s gun use and skill.
After closely examining the footage of the massacre recorded live by the gunman, Hepi was able to give his opinion on the shooter’s firearms handling and control, accuracy, speed and reaction time, shooting on the move, engagement in multiple environments, his stress and cognitive load management and his physical fitness.
Hepi’s conclusion was that while Tarrant was “well equipped with lethal weapons, ammunition and equipment” he was an “amateur” who displayed “very low proficiency”, including how he “prepared, conducted and post-conducted himself”.
“The offender easily controlled the environment given his victims were defenceless, unexpected, trapped and unarmed,” he said.
“Despite this advantage - the offender performed in a chaotic, unskilled cumbersome and non-efficient manner.
“The offender’s ability indicates that he has had some training at a gun club… However, he lacked fundamental skills, knowledge and experience to be able to operate and handle these weapons - and himself - proficiently.
“I am highly confident in concluding that the offender has not had any formal intermediate or advanced weapon handling and control training, with any of the weapon systems employed during the attack.
“The offender’s abilities are very low-level and lacked any form of proficiency.”
Hepi told the court most of the victims were “grouped” in the mosques and were shot at close range - from 0-3 metres.
“With the fear, shock and panic of the victims all grouping in a contained area - that’s where most of the killing was done,” Hepi said.
“That was the advantage he had - they were... contained, trapped, scared - all trying to muster in a corner of the room, there was no escape.
“So all he had to do really is pull the trigger and maintain that weapon, it just keeps going.”
Hepi was asked what damage Tarrant could have inflicted if he had not been able to access the gear he had.
“I don’t think he would’ve carried out the atrocity he did... to the level he did – no,” he said,
The inquest continues tomorrow with further expert evidence.
Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz
