Teen remains in custody over mosque shooting video

Floral tributes to the shooting victims near the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch. Photo: Getty...
Floral tributes to the shooting victims near the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch. Photo: Getty Images
A Christchurch schoolboy arrested for allegedly distributing objectionable material from the mosque terror attacks has been kept in custody for another month.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of legal reasons, first appeared in the Youth Court in Christchurch last Thursday.

He was refused bail and was remanded in custody.

The Herald understands police were alerted after concerns about his behaviour.

The boy's school cannot be named and his principal declined to comment, referring inquiries to police.

Police also refused to comment.

Today, the boy's lawyer, Moana Cole, applied for the teen to be released on electronically monitored (EM) bail.

However, Judge Stephen O'Driscoll refused the application.

Discussions in court today were also suppressed by the judge, along with his reasons for declining bail.

The boy was remanded in custody to come back to court on May 7.

He waved to family members who were in court today before he was taken back into custody.

There have been other unrelated cases before the courts since the Christchurch terror attacks.

Christchurch businessman Philip Neville Arps, 44, appeared in court last week on charges of distributing footage of one of the mosque shootings.

Arps, who runs an insulation business, faces two charges of distributing the livestream "of the multiple murder victims at the Deans Ave Mosque".

The alleged offending occurred on March 16, the day after the shootings at two Christchurch mosques, in which 50 people died and dozens were injured.

The Chief Censor's office has classified the shooter's live stream and so-called manifesto as objectionable under the Films, Video and Publications Classifications Act. The charges have a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Arps was declined bail and remanded in custody until his next appearance on April 15.

An 18-year-old Christchurch student, who has interim name suppression, has also been charged with distributing a livestream and of showing a photograph of the Deans Ave mosque where 42 Muslims were shot dead with the message "target acquired" and further online messaging allegedly inciting extreme violence.

Comments

If you can keep a schoolboy or schoolgirl in custody for this, then you can lock those minors in custody for police chases, car crashes, theft and coward punches and the such like,

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