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When Khadra Ibrahim spoke to her three-year-old half-brother, Mucaad, on Facetime early last year, she promised she would soon travel from Australia to Christchurch to finally meet him in person.
She never got to fulfil her promise. Mucaad Ibrahim was shot and killed on March 15 when a gunman stormed into the Christchurch mosque where he was sitting with his big brother and father.
On Wednesday, a victim impact statement was read on behalf of Khadra Ibrahim during the third day of the sentencing of Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 29, at the High Court in Christchurch. He will be sentenced on 51 charges of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder and a charge of committing a terrorist act.
Ibrahim told the court she was living in Australia and had only ever spoken to Mucaad over the phone and via video-call.Instead of flying to New Zealand to meet Mucaad in person, she did so to attend his burial.
Mucaad's father, Aden Diriye, was also shot multiple times in the attack. In a statement read to the court by his son, and Mucaad's brother, Abdi Farah Aden Ibrahim, Aden said he will never forget how his son played in the mosque and made friends with every worshipper.
"Your atrocity and hatred did not turn out the way you expected," he told the shooter. "Instead it has united our Christchurch community, strengthened our faith, raised the honour of our families and brought our peaceful nation together."
The shooter sat expressionless as he listened to 28 more victim impact statements being delivered in court. He was told he "deserves to be buried in a landfill" and will suffer for eternity.
Haji Daoud Nabi, 71, was standing at the entrance of the Al Noor Mosque on the afternoon of March 15 and welcomed the gunman with the words: "Hello, brother." Then he was killed.
On Wednesday Nabi's son, Ahad Nabi, said his father was a strong leader and a great role model. "You physically hurt him, but you gifted my father with becoming a martyr, and he has now returned to Allah."
Nabi called the shooter a "coward" and "gutless" and said he has not forgiven him. "Your father was a garbage man and you've become the trash of society. You deserve to be buried in a landfill.
"There is nothing heroic about shooting people from behind and those people not having a chance to defend themselves. While you are in prison, you will come to the reality that you are now in hell and only the fire awaits you."
Mustafa Boztas, who was shot in his leg inside the Al-Noor Mosque, told the shooter he is not human and not even an animal "since animals are beneficial to the world".
Boztas previously told Stuff about the moment the shooter stormed into the mosque and how he laid still and pretended to be dead while he heard the shooting and screaming around him.
When he finally got up, he managed to break through a window that had a bullet hole in it, cutting his hand badly. Once outside, he saw a ladder leaning against a wall. He climbed over it, fell down the other side and hurt his shoulder as well.
The ordeal made Boztas decide to become a police officer to help others. His initial application for to enrol for training was declined after police told him he was medically unfit because of the trauma of the shooting.
On Wednesday, Boztas said that while the shooter managed to get his name known, he will be remembered as nothing but "an insignificant killer who is lonely, scared and left behind to suffer for eternity".
Night terrors, no sleep from the pain
Rahimi Ahmad, 40, was struck by a bullet in his right hip as he ran to the entrance of the mosque during the attack. His 10-year-old son was with him at the mosque.
He had multiple surgeries to remove a bullet and shrapnel from his spine and spent a week in intensive care.
In his statement, which was read on his behalf on Wednesday, he said he experienced terrible pain for months after the attack and still has numbness in his right leg. He often goes without sleep for days because of the pain. He had to learn to walk again and uses crutches to move around.
"I feel guilty that I brought my son to the mosque that day and I blame myself that he had to experience what happened," Ahmad said. "I worry how this will impact him for the rest of his life."
"Sometimes I feel anxious that it might happen again when I am out in crowds. I returned to Friday prayers, but not at the mosques because I feel that it could happen again. I only went back to the Deans Ave mosque once after the shooting but could not go back again, because it led to bad dreams and my wife said I scream out during the night."
Sara Qasem, 25, spoke in a strong, steady voice. "I am the daughter of a hero, the daughter of a shining, glimmering man, daughter of a light in our lives. Daughter of a martyr, Abdelfattah Qasem. Remember that name."
Abdelfattah Qasem was killed at the Al Noor Mosque, leaving behind his wife, Siham, and three daughters Dana, "Lulu" Rawan and Sara.
Sara Qasem said her father stayed at the mosque during the attack to help others rather than flee. "I wonder if he was in pain, if he was frightened and what his final thoughts were. And I wish more than anything in the world that I could have been there to hold his hand and tell him that it would all be OK. But I could not do that."
Looking at the gunman, she told him she pities him. "I urge you to take a look around this courtroom and ask yourself, who exactly is the 'other' here right now? Is it us, or is it you? I think the answer is pretty clear."
Hasmine Mohamedhosen had a photo of her brother, Mohamed Moosid Mohamedhosen, who was killed during the terror attack, in court with her. Looking at the gunman she said: "I want you to bring his face into your mind and have that stay there until the end of your life."
Mohamedhosen described her brother as peaceful, generous, selfless and humble. In contrast she described the shooter as "the beast".
She said her family has still not come to terms with the fact that her brother had been killed in New Zealand, a country they considered peaceful and safe. She finished her statement with strong words for her brother's murderer: "Son of the devil, I wish you rot in hell in between the four walls of your cell for eternity."
Wedaad Mohamedhosen, Mohamed Moosid's niece, called the shooter a "monster, a murderer, an ignorant, violent bigot and a person full of hate".
She spoke about the last time she saw her uncle when she visited him in Christchurch a few months before the attack. "Today is about setting the record straight," she said, looking at the shooter. "If you think you were torturing us mentally, guess what: We are all strong here and none of your tricks worked."
Osman Ahmed, a Somali father of three, was shot in the back during the attack and will always have fragments of the bullet in his body. In a statement read on his behalf, he said he has been unable to work since the attack which has caused significant financial hardship for his family.
He told the court how he heard gunshots and huddled with other worshippers in a corner of the mosque in fear. He remembered the pain and heat of the bullet hitting his back. "I saw a child die in the arms of his father. My brothers, who had moments before stood with me in prayer, were now lying lifeless on the floor."