A psychologist who assessed the Christchurch mosque gunman has told a court that isolation in prison likely contributed to a decline in his mental health.
The witness was asked to prepare a report on convicted terrorist Brenton Tarrant’s mental health to be presented as evidence as part of his bid to overturn his convictions and recant his guilty plea.
Today, the gunman had his day in the Court of Appeal seeking leave to appeal after filing his claim in 2022, out of time.
The crux of his claim is that the harsh prison conditions he was subjected to while awaiting trial severely impacted his mental health and meant he was effectively “forced” to change his plea to guilty.
“I did not have the mind frame or mental health required to be making informed decisions at that time,” he told the court this morning.
“I think the issue is, did I really know what I wanted to do or what would be a good idea? No, I didn’t actually.”
The gunman was jailed for life without parole in 2020 for murdering 51 people at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019.
Today was the first time that he has spoken at length in any forum, and he appeared via audiovisual link from prison.
Since his sentencing five years ago, he’s lost considerable weight and shaved his head.
More than 60 survivors and family members of those killed by the terrorist are in court in Christchurch watching the proceedings, on an hour-long delay to the live hearing in Wellington.
A clinical psychologist, whose name is suppressed, was asked to prepare a report on the gunman’s mental health and his decision to make a guilty plea.
The man, known as Witness B, had access to complaints made by the terrorist about his conditions, and reports from two psychologists but didn’t have access to the affidavits of his legal counsel, nor access to reports from a forensic psychiatry clinic talking about his mental health.
He met with Tarrant twice over video in 2024 for a total of three hours.
Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes questioned the psychologist and the accuracy of his report, specifically that he appeared to have taken Tarrant’s word for many things without verifying them further.
“In accepting his version of events, I do rely on his version of events,” the psychologist replied.
“The point is that you have a man, who is telling you that he hasn’t been straight with health assessors in the past, and he’s appealing his conviction, he’s got an outcome he wants out of this process, does that not raise alarm bells for the psychologist asked to prepare a report?” Hawes asked.
“Accepting things at face value is being an advocate, isn’t it? You’re not looking for balance; you’re not performing the expert role.”
“I don’t think I’ve just acted as his advocate,” the psychologist replied.
“But I did draw a conclusion based on his version of events and how I described the impact on his mental health.
“I think it’s not correct to say that I’ve acted purely as his advocate; I’ve attempted to understand how he changed his plea.”
The psychologist said the crux of his findings and report was that the gunman’s condition was impaired, and his ability to make informed choices was impacted.
The man also found the terrorist was suffering from a mental health condition, but not one that impacted his ability to give his lawyers instructions or be able to plead.
“I don’t believe at any stage during his incarceration that he wasn’t fit to plead,” the witness said.
“But, I think there’s an obvious change in his mental health.“
Hawes said the material the psychologist relied on in his report was deficient.
The psychologist disagreed and said a reviewer of his report appeared to have minimised the effects of solitary confinement on prisoners.
“I was more struck by the time he spent in solitary confinement ... five months, I think,” he said.
“It’s a gradual process, as he explained it to me [the deterioration of his mental health].”
The man said this process may have begun as early as 2019.
Two more witnesses are scheduled to be cross-examined and the hearing is scheduled for the rest of the week.
Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū, covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.