Serial rapist Malcolm Rewa has failed in a bid to have an appeal for his convictions for Susan Burdett's rape and murder heard.
The application was rejected by the Supreme Court.
Teina Pora was initially convicted in 1994 of Burdett's high-profile 1992 rape and murder – but in 2015, his appeal against the conviction was allowed and Pora proved his innocence after serving years in jail for a crime he didn't commit.
Rewa was convicted of Burdett's rape and murder in 2019. He was first tried over the case in 1996 after DNA analysis suggested his involvement - and at that trial, he also faced "some 43 charges of sexual offending against 25 other complainants", the court said.
"He was found guilty of most of the charges but the jury was not able to agree on the charges relating to Ms Burdett's rape and murder.
"Mr Rewa was tried again in 1998. The jury was not able to agree on the murder charge but did find him guilty of her rape.
"The 2019 trial was Mr Rewa's third jury trial for Ms Burdett's murder and, as noted above, resulted in his conviction."
In a decision released publicly today, the Supreme Court outlined the latest development in the case.
Rewa had applied for leave to appeal before the Supreme Court after an earlier appeal against the murder conviction was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in February last year. He argued a substantial miscarriage of justice had occurred.
"No issue of principle arises and there is no risk of a possible miscarriage of justice," the Supreme Court's decision said.
"It is therefore not in the interests of justice to grant Mr Rewa's application for leave to appeal."
Rewa's lawyers argued his conviction for rape was wrongly admitted under the Evidence Act 2006, propensity evidence related to Rewa's convictions for sex offences against 21 other victims was wrongly admitted, and "Mr Rewa was deprived of his right to a fair trial due to a lack of effective representation by his trial counsel".
"In Mr Rewa's submission, the Court could not on the basis of the evidence be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Rewa murdered Ms Burdett," the Court decision summarised.
Quashing the appeal, the Supreme Court said: "The application for leave to appeal is dismissed."
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