Sofia City Court is to hear Wednesday the case against the Australian national Paul "Jock" Palfreeman, accused of stabbing to death a 20-year-old in Bulgaria.

A total of 15 witnesses of the crime, committed at the end of December after an alleged street brawl in the capital Sofia

The psychiatric expertise showed the defendant was aware of the consequences of his actions and does not have grounds to plead insane.

Paul "Jock" Palfreeman, 21, is behind bars in a Bulgarian jail after being charged with the murder of Andrey Manov. Palfreeman also faces a charge of attempted murder over the alleged stabbing of the 19-year-old Antoan Zahariev during the fight.

Palfreeman's defence has first claimed he was acting in self-defence.

Later, he himself said he was trying to help a Roma boy, attacked by the two victims.

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 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.