Former soldier who murdered wife has appeal turned down

Wellington police at the scene where Dawood's wife died after being stabbed. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A former Iraqi soldier who murdered his wife in Wellington by stabbing her 55 times has had his latest appeal against his sentence turned down.

Najeeb Dawood, 52, was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years in February.

His lawyer previously argued the sentence was "manifestly excessive", but the Court of Appeal dismissed this in August.

Today an application to the Supreme Court to appeal against that decision was also turned down.

Justices John McGrath, Susan Glazebrook and Terence Arnold ruled Dawood's application for leave to appeal was dismissed.

In their decision, they said: "The case raises no issue of principle and nothing put forward on behalf of Mr Dawood indicates a risk of a substantial miscarriage of justice."

Dawood pleaded guilty in April 2012 to the murder of his wife, Eman Hurmiz. It was the result of a culmination of a history of threats and violence towards her, depression and an abnormal jealousy over her imagined infidelity.

On September 2, 2011 Dawood lured his wife to a shed at the back of their Wellington property, tied her to a chair, took a large knife and began stabbing her.

Once his wife had died, Dawood attempted suicide, but was revived by emergency services.

He pleaded guilty to murder, aggravated wounding, assault, threatening to kill and possession of a weapon.