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'Life, no parole' demand for NZ mosque gunman

"Please I want you to give this man the highest punishment if you can. I want you not to let this man see the sun. Never ever."

A survivor of last year's New Zealand mosque shooting, Hazem Mohammed demanded justice in court on Tuesday.

He and other survivors were facing up to white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, a 29-year-old Australian.

Kyron Gosse is the nephew of victim Linda Armstrong.

"She never even stood a chance. To this day I have not received an apology, nor have I seen any shred of remorse for his despicable actions."

Tarrant is scheduled to be sentenced this week after pleading guilty to 51 murders, 41 attempted murders and one charge of committing a terrorist act during the 2019 shooting rampage in Christchurch which he live-streamed on Facebook.

Families of victims gunned down and survivors urged the judge to impose the toughest possible sentence, life without parole, on the gunman.

Tarrant showed no remorse and even appeared to smirk at one survivor during the hearing.

Nathan Smith, originally from the UK, recounted how he held a three-year-old boy as he died in his arms.

"When you get a free minute, which you'll have plenty of. Funny hey? Very funny. Maybe you should try to read the Koran. It's beautiful. I have nothing else to say to you. But you will be judged. You will be judged."

A murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

But the judge can also rule out parole, a measure that's never been used in New Zealand.