Australian Paul "Jock" Palfreeman, accused of the stabbing murder of Andrei Monov and attempted murder of Anton Zahariev, was fully aware of his actions, Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) reported on February 24 2008, quoting unnamed sources in the Prosecutor's Office.

Monov died on his way to the hospital on December 28 2007, after he was stabbed in the back with a knife by Palfreeman. Zahariev was injured in the same incident.

Court experts said the Australian could not claim temporary insanity as his defence, BTA said. Palfreeman has denied the accusations, claiming he acted in self-defence when the men turned on him after he intervened in a fight between the men and a Roma.

The court denied bail on the basis of the severity of the case, for which the accused could be sentenced to between 10 and 20 years in jail or life imprisonment with or without the possibility of commutation. Additionally, Palfreeman did not have a permanent address and the court considered there was a risk he would hide, mediapool.bg has said.

Prosecutors have until February 28 to collect evidence for their bill of indictment and are confident of meeting the deadline, BTA reported.

Palfreeman, a trainee soldier in the British army, had asked British defence officials to be present at his hearings to ensure a fair and transparent trial, fearing that police and witnesses are not being objective. But since he was not in Bulgaria for official defence purposes the matter "is being treated as a consulate matter", the British Ministry of Defence said at the time.

Andrei Monov, 20, was the son of known psychologist and Sofia University professor Hristo Monov. His funeral was attended by 250 guests, including school friends, members of the Levski fanclub and government officials, mediapool.bg said.