New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has hailed the life sentence for the Christchurch mosque gunman on Aug. 27.

Ardern said Brenton Tarrant deserved a lifetime of "complete and utter silence".

Judge Cameron Mander imposed the maximum available sentence on the 29-year-old Australian gunman, the first time the sentence has been imposed in the country.

The judge said the crimes were so wicked that a lifetime in jail could not begin to atone for them.

A total of 90 survivors and family members recounted the horror and trauma of the attacks.

They gave their testimonies during the four-day sentencing hearing.

Ardern praised victims

Ardern praised the "strength" of the country's Muslim community following the sentencing.

She said: "Nothing will take the pain away, but I hope you felt the arms of New Zealand around you through this whole process."

"The trauma of March 15 is not easily healed, but today I hope is the last where we have any cause to hear or utter the name of the terrorist behind it," said Ardern.

"His deserves to be a lifetime of complete and utter silence."

Ardern also posted on Facebook expressing how she cannot imagine experiencing a loss of a loved one in such a tragedy:

Background

The attacks in March 2019 targeted people praying at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques.

The worst shooting in New Zealand shocked the rest of the world.

It prompted new laws in the country banning the deadliest types of semi-automatic weapons.

The New Zealand leader was widely praised for her response to the attacks that killed 51 Muslim worshippers.

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