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A Bulgarian court has sentenced to 20 years in jail the Australian national Paul "Jock" Palfreeman, accused of stabbing to death a 20-year-old in Bulgaria.
According to prosecutors, who earlier in the day asked for life imprisonment for the defendant, Palfreeman was not provoked and did not act in self-defense, as he has claimed.
Prosecutors say it was the victims who were forced to defend themselves from the attack of the Australian, throwing stones and shouting in a bid to attract the attention of the police.
The court has awarded the compensation claims of the parents of the two victims Monov and Zahariev for BGN 200 000 and BGN 50 000, respectively. The defendant will also have to pay another BGN 13,000 for costs and expenses to the applicants.
The sentence is subject to appeal within fifteen days.
Paul "Jock" Palfreeman, 21, has been kept behind bars in a Bulgarian jail after being charged with murder after an alleged street brawl in the capital Sofia at the end of 2007.
Palfreeman also faced a charge of attempted murder over the alleged stabbing of a 19-year-old man during the fight.
The Sydneysider has repeatedly denied both charges, saying he was trying to defend himself from being attacked by a group of men.
Sofia City Court rejected at the beginning of last year Palfreeman's bail plea, with the judge ruling the suspect is aggressive and could attempt to hide from court. Afterwards the case has been repeatedly postponed.
Palfreeman was born in Sydney on 13 Oct 1986 and has visited Bulgaria on four occasions. He has no previous criminal record.
The Australian, who is a trainee soldier in the British army, wanted British defence officials present to ensure a fair and transparent hearing because of fears that police and witnesses are not being objective.
But British army officials rejected the request, saying that because the man was not in Bulgaria for official defence purposes the matter was being treated as a consulate matter.
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