Man who downloaded video of Christchurch mosque attack suspended jail sentence

An Adelaide man who downloaded a video of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attack but no longer holds racist ideology has been handed a suspended jail sentence.

On Tuesday, Bennett Russell Maynard-Brown, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing extremist material in the Adelaide Magistrates CourtAdelaide Magistrates Court.

The court was told by Maynard-Brown's housemates that they had handed in a hard drive containing the violent videos to the Holden Hill police station in February, 2021.

In sentencing today, Maynard-Brown's defence lawyer, Emma Shaw, told Magistrate Roderick Jensen that his client did not know it was illegal to download the video from Facebook, and was now sorry for his abhorrent actions.

Ms Shaw said that Mr Maynard-Brown accepts that he should not have had these materials on the hard drive.

Since the offending, a lot of change has happened.

He has addressed a number of issues, including his mental health and drug use.

The court was told that Maynard-Brown recently converted to Islam, and no longer held racist ideologies. He was told that he previously suffered from drug-induced psychosis, but has now been able to access treatment for methamphetamine use and other mental health conditions with support from his parents.

Magistrate Jenson found that Maynard-Brown had no interest in looking at violent material and sentenced him to two months and three days in prison.

The sentence was suspended on the condition that he was of good behaviour for 12 months and comply with a supervision order.

Australian terrorist Brenton Tarrant was sentenced to life without parole in 2020 for killing 51 people and injuring another 40 at two separate mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.