MURDERER Brian Kearney's last-ditch legal attempt to appeal his conviction for the murder of his wife Siobhan Kearney will be heard on Wednesday.

Last July, the Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed an appeal by Kearney against his conviction for the murder of his wife.

Despite losing his appeal, Kearney's legal team has taken the unusual step of attempting to lodge an application to the Supreme Court through the Court of Criminal Appeal. Under the law, a section 29 application is a request to have permission to go to the Supreme Court on a specific point of law of particular public interest, in pursuance of furthering an already unsuccessful appeal. The Court of Criminal Appeal must issue a certificate to allow this proceed any further.

Wednesday's hearing will determine if the court will do so or not.

Fifty-three-year-old Kearney was found guilty at the Central Criminal Court in March 2008 of strangling his wife to death with a vacuum cleaner flex at their home at Carnroe, Knocknashee, Goatstown, Dublin, on 28 February, 2006.