New Zealand / Christchurch Terror Attacks

Christchurch mosque shooter's sentence longest in New Zealand by far

16:27 pm on 27 August 2020

Convicted mass murderer and terrorist Brenton Tarrant is the first person in New Zealand's history to be jailed for life without any chance of parole.

File image. Photo: Unsplash / Emiliano Bar

The sentence - the harshest under current laws - has only been available to judges since 2010, after a law change.

RNZ takes a look at some of the longest prison sentences handed down for murder prior to today.

Brenton Tarrant

The Australian pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one charge of engaging in a terrorist act over the mosque attacks in Christchurch on 15 March 2019. He is the first person to sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

William Bell

William Bell was responsible for the murders of three people - and the wounding of a fourth - at the Mount Wellington-Panmure RSA in December 2001. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 33 years, which was reduced to 30 on appeal.

Paul Wilson

Paul Wilson - who changed his name to Paul Tainui - admitted raping and murdering Nicole Marie Tuxford in her Christchurch home in April 2018. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 28 years. When he murdered Tuxford, he was still on parole for the 1994 murder of his ex-girlfriend Kimberly Jean Schroder in Hokitika.

Russell Tully

Russell John Tully was responsible for the Ashburton Work and Income office shootings in September 2014. He was found guilty of murdering Peggy Noble and Leigh Cleveland, and of attempting to murder Kim Adams. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 27 years.

Graeme Burton

Notorious killer Graeme Burton has a long and violent criminal history, with 100 convictions to his name. He was jailed for the 1992 murder of Paul Anderson. He was among a group of inmates who escaped prison in 2002. He was released on parole in 2006. In January 2007, he murdered Lower Hutt man Karl Kuchenbecker and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 26 years. He has also been found guilty of attempting to murder a fellow prison inmate. He's serving a sentence of preventative detention.

Bruce Howse

Bruce Howse murdered his stepdaughters, 12-year-old Saliel Aplin and 11-year-old Olympia Jetson while they were sleeping in their Masterton home in December 2001. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 28 years, which was reduced to 25 years on appeal.

Tony Robertson

Tony Robertson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole of 24 years for the rape and murder of Auckland woman Blessie Gottingco in May 2014.

Liam Reid

Liam Reid was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 23 years for the 2007 murder of 20-year-old Christchurch woman Emma Agnew and the rape and attempted murder of a university student in Dunedin nine days later.

Jason Somerville

Jason Somerville pleaded guilty to murdering his wife and a neighbour and burying their bodies under his Christchurch house. He had strangled Tisha Lowry in September 2008 and killed Rebecca Somerville in August 2009. He was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 23 years.