New Zealand's highest court has dismissed an appeal by the man convicted of murdering Auckland man Austin Hemmings.
Mr Hemmings was stabbed to death in central Auckland in 2008 after he went to the aid of a woman being attacked.
Pauesi Leofa Brown was found guilty of his murder and jailed for life, with a minimum non-parole period of 16 years.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued its ruling on Brown's application to appeal against the sentence.
The court says Brown entered a guilty plea at the very last moment so that the victim's family would have believed they would have to endure the ordeal of a trial.
The court says the sentence is, if anything, lenient.
