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[OMEN]

Five court officials had to restrain an enraged man as the murderer of his sister was jailed for at least 15 years yesterday.

One of the five brothers of Fallon Baker vented his anger in the New South Wales Supreme Court after New Zealand-born John Frederick Thompson was sentenced for the "brutal" murder of Ms Baker on January 28, 2006.

"My sister is gone," Steven Baker said.

Mr Baker also threatened Thompson once the sentence had been read by Justice Clifton Hoeben.

"I'm going to put you back to where my sister is," he said.

"Fifteen years," Mr Baker yelled as family led him from the court.

Thompson, 24, had pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Baker in their Airds home in south-western Sydney.

Thompson told police he started drinking at 10pm in the carpark at the Riverside Inn at Airds, then at a friend's place, before leaving to go home between 4am and 5am AEDT (6am and 7am NZT).

It was during his walk home Thompson crossed paths with Mark Siaa, a former boyfriend of Ms Baker, when the two had an argument.

Justice Hoeben said in Thompson's interview with police, it was clear he had become angry with Ms Baker as he believed she was still involved with Mr Siaa.

"I should. . . make it clear that these feelings of jealousy were entirely unjustified," Justice Hoeben said.

Thompson had entered the house and walked up the stairs where he yelled `f*****g slut', which woke Ms Baker.

"What's wrong?" she replied.

"Why do you have to talk shit behind my back?" he said.

Justice Hoeben said neighbours heard Thompson yelling, along with lots of banging.

Near Ms Baker's body in the living room were pieces of a Jack Daniels whisky bottle and a broken television stand, while a metal candelabra was tangled in her hair, he said.

At this point Mr Baker screamed across the courtroom at Thompson, "you f*****g piece of shit".

"Can you give your sister the dignity she deserves, Mr Baker?" Justice Hoeben replied.

He said expert evidence indicated there had been at least seven blows in Ms Baker's assault.

"The attack was clearly a violent and frenzied one," Justice Hoeben said.

Justice Hoeben said the evidence indicated Thompson's intent was to cause grievous bodily harm and not kill Ms Baker.

Thompson looked down during the judgment until he was sentenced.

Mr Baker said to him: "Look everybody in the face".

Thompson was sentenced to a maximum 20 years in jail and with the minimum 15-year sentence will be eligible for parole on February 28, 2021.

AAP

[OMEN]

Iranians have voted in a low-key election likely to keep parliament in the grip of conservatives after unelected state bodies barred many reformist foes of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from the race.

But the next assembly may not give Ahmadinejad an easy ride, even if conservatives dominate. They include not just his allies, but critics of his economic policies and politicians looking beyond this election to the presidential poll in 2009.

Reformists favouring more political and social freedom had hoped to capitalise on public discontent about inflation, now at 19 percent.

But the vetting process and a government crackdown on dissent have muted their challenge. They may struggle to keep the 40 or so seats they held in the outgoing 290-seat assembly.

Food prices, not foreign policy or Iran's nuclear row with the West, are what most Iranians worry about in the world's fourth-largest oil producer.

"I hope this time they do a better job and pay more attention to the economy, the housing problem and inflation," said Soraya Tavasoli, a middle-aged woman backing conservatives.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has effectively endorsed Ahmadinejad and his government, cast his ballot early and urged others to do the same.

Khamenei, who usually stays above the political fray, was quoted as saying in newspapers that voters should consider "voting for those who can pave the way for the current government which is active and willing to serve."

His support for Ahmadinejad was relayed by anonymous text messages to mobile phone users.

Shrugging off reformist complaints that the system was stacked against them, Ahmadinejad said after voting: "Our revolution means the presence of people ... Parliament belongs to people and it should be a reflection of what they want."

IRAN'S "ENEMIES"

Some people ignored requests by the clerical establishment for a high turnout to defy Iran's "enemies" in the West.

"The result is clear. Ahmadinejad's supporters will win again, so why should I bother?" said Farnak, 25, a housewife out shopping who declined to give her full name.

The poll may offer clues on whether Ahmadinejad will win re-election although that may depend more on whether he keeps the support of Khamenei and other parts of the state apparatus.

The president can rely on loyalists like Hassan Siavashi, 45. "It is my religious duty to vote. I pray God will help Ahmadinejad's group to win," he said before voting in Tehran.

Reformists say the vote is unfair because so many of their candidates were disqualified. But they have urged Iran's 44 million eligible voters to deny conservatives an easy victory.

Some of those queuing at the Haft-e Tir polling station at a Tehran mosque had heeded that argument. "We have to support reformists. If we don't vote, their opponents will take more seats," said Mohammad Ziafati, 62, a retired teacher.

Bibi Zahra, an elderly woman in a black chador, said she had put her trust in her son's choice. "I don't know who I was voting for, he filled the form for me," she added.

Conservatives controlled the last parliament and backed Ahmadinejad when he ran for president in 2005. Many have since blamed his economic policies for fuelling inflation.

Khamenei, not Ahmadinejad or parliament, has the last word on major policy issues such as the international dispute over a nuclear programme which the West suspects has a military component. Tehran says it aims only to generate electricity.

Hardliners back Ahmadinejad's defiant nuclear stance, but reformists and moderate conservatives say his fiery speeches have helped prompt three rounds of U.N. sanctions against Iran.

Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pragmatic politician and foe of Ahmadinejad, urged all Iranians to vote.

"Parliament is very important. One reason is that it should approve ministers. It also has the right to impeach," he said.

The Iranian parliament has never exercised its power to impeach a sitting president.

Polling stations are due to close at 6 p.m. (1.30am NZT) but in past elections the deadline has been extended.

Reuters

[OMEN]

A Cambodian court has sentenced a prominent Russian investor to 13 years in jail for the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl, the latest foreigner to be caught in the country's drive to stop child sex tourism.

The lawyer for 41-year-old Alexander Trofimov, who signed a $US300 million ($NZ371.65 million) deal in 2006 to develop a luxury tourist resort, said the ruling would damage Cambodia's investment reputation.

"My client is a high-profile man. He should not be sentenced by just one girl who pointed a finger at him," lawyer Ouch Sophal said.

"The court decision will send a bad message to foreign investors," he said, adding his client would appeal.

Chief Judge Ke Sakhan said the court had sufficient evidence to convict Trofimov, who did not speak to reporters after he was sentenced.

During the trial, the girl said she was lured by a pimp from the capital, Phnom Penh, to the coastal province of Sihanoukville, where Trofimov's company planned to build a major tourist resort on Koh Pos, or Snake Island.

A Cambodian national was also sentenced on Friday to 11 years in jail for providing the girl.

Their convictions came a day after a German man was given 15 years in jail for sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl.

Walter Munz, 61, from Stuttgart, was arrested at a Phnom Penh guest house last year and accused of sharing a bed with the street girl and sexually abusing her four times.

The white-haired Munz, who appeared before the court in prison overalls, denied the charge and said he had been giving her $US60 a month for school fees and food.

Poverty-stricken Cambodia has long had a reputation as a haven for paedophiles, due in large part to its corrupt police force and courts. But child rights group say Phnom Penh is beginning to take the problem more seriously.

There were 17 convictions last year, up sharply from three in 2006 and six in 2004, according the rights group Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), which has tracked cases since 2003.

"It's becoming increasingly difficult for sex offenders to get away with these crimes," APLE President Thierry Darnaudet said.

More than a decade ago, offenders could pay up to $US20,000 to have their cases disappear, but that was happening less these days due to pressure from NGOs and foreign embassies, he said.

Groups like APLE have also helped train police in basic evidence gathering techniques, contributing to the rise in successful prosecutions.

Reuters

[OMEN]

Goa police, investigating the rape and murder of a British teenager, said they were willing to reopen past cases of suspicious deaths if they received fresh requests.

Police said a bartender raped and drugged Scarlett Keeling, 15, and left her to die in shallow sea waters on Feb. 18. But her mother Fiona MacKeown has said her daughter was assaulted for resisting rape and then murdered.

At least 126 foreign nationals have died in Goa in the past two years, 40 of them British, according to Kishan Kumar, said the Inspector general of police in Goa.

Some officers, who have spoken on condition of anonymity, say that 10-12 deaths passed off as drowning since last year looked suspicious.

"Once I get a complaint we will reopen investigations and if the case is strong and properly substantiated we will certainly look into it with interest," Kumar said.

Indian authorities had originally said Keeling's death was an accident, but later arrested two people after a second autopsy revealed she could have been killed.

Investigations revealed the original investigating officer of the case had deliberately covered up the case and he was later suspended.

The Indian media and lawyers have criticised police for failing in the past to properly investigate murder cases.

MacKeown said many past deaths have not been properly investigated. "Many cases have been hushed up, lot of people supporting us have said they lost their loved ones over here which was passed as accidents, or suicide or drug overdose," she said.

Reuters

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