A white supremacist who killed 51 people at two New Zealand mosques in 2019 has lost an appeal seeking to overturn his conviction and sentence.
Brenton Tarrant, 35, admitted to carrying out New Zealand's deadliest modern-day mass shooting before being sentenced to life in prison in August 2020.
He was convicted of 51 charges of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of committing a terrorist act.
The Australian national appealed to the Court of Appeal in February, saying "torturous and inhumane" detention conditions during his trial made him incapable of making rational decisions when he pleaded guilty.
"This Court does not accept Mr Tarrant's evidence about his mental state," Thursday's court documents said.
"There were inconsistencies in Mr Tarrant's own evidence, and his evidence is at odds with the detailed observations of prison authorities and the assessments of mental health professionals at the time of him entering his pleas."
The panel of three judges found the shooter's guilty pleas were voluntary, and "he was not coerced or pressured in any way to plead guilty".
"The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that he was not suffering any significant psychological impacts as a result of his prison conditions at the time he pleaded guilty," the court said.
The court said Tarrant's "proposed conviction appeal is utterly devoid of merit".
He live-streamed his attack on Al-Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in March 2019, before being apprehended by police.
He released a racist manifesto shortly before storming the mosques armed with military-style semi-automatics, indiscriminately shooting at Muslim people gathered for Friday prayers and broadcasting the killings on Facebook using a head-mounted camera.
The massacre shocked the world and prompted New Zealand to quickly tighten gun laws.
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