The man charged over the Christchurch mosque shootings faces an unprecedented prison term if found guilty, a veteran criminal defence barrister says. [The shooter] faced one murder charge, but police say more are likely.
Belinda Sellars QC, who specialises in murder cases, said the offender was likely to face an "extraordinary" minimum non-parole term if found guilty of the shooting - given the number of casualties was far in excess of previous mass-murder cases.
Auckland University law professor Bill Hodge said it would be risky for the Crown to attempt to use terrorism laws to try the man, and he would instead expect them to pursue multiple murder charges against the accused.
Hodge said the standard approach was to use a 'holding' charge while the case was investigated, which would be why the shooter has been initially charged with a single count of murder despite 50 people now being declared dead after the shootings.
What sentence the shooter could expect if found guilty will raise legal questions.
New Zealand judges rarely sentence people who have committed multiple offences to serve their sentences consecutively. Instead, they serve them concurrently.
The longest sentence given to a multiple murderer in modern times was the 30-year non-parole term given to William Bell, who killed three people and left another close to death in a gun attack at the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA in 2001. Bell's non-parole term expires in 2033, when he will be 55 years old.
"On the magnitude of this, you would basically say it is only going to be far more than anything we've ever seen before."
Sellars said given the lack of comparative trials here, the judiciary might look to Australia or the UK for similar cases for sentencing comparisons.
Hodge agreed, saying: "You would say this is worse than William Bell, who got 30 years."
Christchurch shooter faces 'extraordinary' jail sentence