Jock Palfreeman, the Australian national, accused of stabbing a 20-year-old in Bulgaria last week, had been accused of another violent stabbing back home, Australian tabloid Daily Telegraph reported on its website.

Palfreeman, whose name was initially released as John Paul Freeman by Bulgarian authorities, was behind an attack in December 2004 that nearly killed James Atack and his friend Matt, both 20, the daily said.

No charges were pressed at that time, because of insufficient evidence, but both identified him as the perpetrator at that time.

"It just hurts to know he has done it to someone else, I was a millimetre away from dying," the paper quoted Matt, who was too afraid to have his last name published, as saying.

"I had huge gashes out of my chest, I had surgery . . . I couldn't work for 10 weeks."

According to police reports, a group of men were involved in a fight around 1.30 a.m. on Friday when Palfreeman, took out a knife and stabbed the two victims.

One of them, Andrey Monov, 20, son of Bulgaria's famous psychologist Hristo Monov, died in the ambulance heading for the hospital. Doctors said the life of the other victim, aged 19, is out of danger.

On Monday, Sofia's City court rejected Palfreeman's bail plea, with the judge ruling the suspect is aggressive and could attempt to hide from court. He has until Thursday to appeal, in which case his case will be heard again on January 8.

Bulgarian court experts claim Palfreeman's defence, who says he was acting in self-defence, is not backed by any evidence, with no further details of the case revealed so far.

Palfreeman, 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 said because he was not in Bulgaria for official defence purposes the matter "is being treated as a consulate matter", the Daily Telegraph quoted a Ministry of Defence spokesman.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!