A New Zealand court on Thursday sentenced Brenton Tarrant, a 29-year-old Australian who killed 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch in 2019, to life in prison without parole, the first time such a sentence has been handed down in the Pacific nation.

Below are quotes from the sentencing hearing and public reaction on Thursday:

HIGH COURT JUSTICE CAMERON MANDER IN SENTENCING REMARKS

"I am mindful that as the years pass and you become a much older man, the risk you pose could be reassessed. The need for deterrence is also clear but the deluded motivation of zealots capable of such crimes, with their overvalued beliefs that feed such extreme violence, are less likely to be tempered by the fear of penal consequences no matter how severe.

"Your crimes, however, are so wicked that even if you are detained until you die, it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation.

"As far as I am able to gauge, you are empty of any empathy for your victims.

"The hatred that lies at the heart of your hostility to particular members of the community that you came to this country to murder has no place here - it has no place anywhere."

GAMAL FOUDA - IMAM OF AL NOOR MOSQUE WHICH WAS ATTACKED

"No punishment will bring our loved ones back. We respect our justice system and in the New Zealand Muslim community, and the non-Muslim as well, we stood together against hate.

"Extremists are all the same. Whether they use religion, nationalism or any other ideology. All extremists, they represent hate. But we are here today. We respect love, compassion, Muslim and non-Muslim people of faith and of no faith."

NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER JACINDA ARDERN

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

AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON

"Justice today was delivered to the terrorist and murderer for his cowardly and horrific crimes in Christchurch. It is right that we will never see or hear from him ever again."

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY

"We note with pleasure the announcement of the verdict of the court today sentencing the defendant to imprisonment for life with no possibility of parole, the heaviest punishment in New Zealand.

"The verdict reminded the world once again the need for the international community to fight jointly against all acts and ideologies based on Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism and hatred."

CROWN PROSECUTOR MARK ZARIFEH

"The enormity of the offending in this case is without comparison in New Zealand's criminal history.

"The offending was motivated by an entrenched racist and xenophobic ideology and a desire to create terror within the Muslim community and beyond.

"The offender meticulously planned and prepared his attacks with the aim of executing as many people as possible."

HINA AMIR - WHO WAS AT AL NOOR MOSQUE WHICH AS ATTACKED

"We are not in a country where we can expect the death penalty. But they have served justice just the way they could, giving the maximum prison time without parole.

"It's a relief...there is a closure at least...but the trauma and the anxiety, will stay with you maybe forever."

FARID AHMED - HUSBAND OF HUSNA AHMED WHO WAS KILLED AT AL NOOR MOSQUE

"When the choice of reaction came, some sought justice and I offered forgiveness, right from the first day, as both options are given by Allah in the Quran. Since then, I have maintained my forgiveness choice. But I respect the justice system and the justice seekers."

ABDUL AZIZ WAHABZADAH - CONFRONTED TARRANT AT LINWOOD ISLAMIC CENTRE

"We waited a long time for this day. We wanted him to be locked up forever, without parole, and we got that. We can close the book and move on with our lives.

"It's not justice, because for those who have lost their loved ones, they cannot see their loved ones. He can still breathe. And if his family want to see him they can see him. But the worst punishment he can get in this country, he got that."