An Afghan man who fled from the Taliban to begin a new life in Australia will spend the next 14 years behind bars after a judge rejected his claim that cultural differences had led to him raping a woman

Esmatullah Sharifi, 30, was told by Judge Mark Dean in Melbourne that his background as a traumatized Muslim refugee was no excuse for the rape of a drunken and vulnerable teenager. It was not the first time that Sharifi had appeared in court on a rape charge - in 2009 he was jailed for a minimum of seven years for the abduction and sexual assault of a woman on Christmas Eve, 2008 - five days after he had raped the teenager. Sharifi, who pleaded guilty to rape, will serve a sentence that includes his jailing for the second sexual attack. It was DNA from that second offense that led to him being charged with the earlier rape of the teenager. With a maximum sentence of 14 years set, he will have to serve a minimum of 11 years and will be eligible for parole in seven years and eight months. He is likely to be deported back to Afghanistan when he has served his sentence.