Mother of accused killer forced to give evidence against her own son

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The mother of a man accused of killing his neighbour has been forced to give crucial evidence against her own son, telling a court he punched the woman in the head three times before she was found dead.

Belinda Torney also told the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday she had asked her son to call an ambulance when he revealed he could not wake 49-year-old Emma Bates days before she was found dead in Cobram, in Victoria’s north, last April.

John Torney has been charged with negligent manslaughter in relation to Emma Bates’ death.

John Torney, 40, who appeared at the committal hearing via video link, is alleged to have had a relationship with Bates and moved into her home in the weeks before she died.

He has been charged with assault and negligent manslaughter which he denies.

His mother attempted to refuse to provide evidence at the last minute, citing mental health issues and the fact she had already been forced to provide evidence at a murder trial involving a toddler her son was accused of killing almost a decade earlier.

“I’ve done it 10 years ago, and I don’t want to go through it all again. I don’t want memories brought up … and I probably wouldn’t have a relationship with Johnny again,” said Belinda Torney, who kept her black sunglasses on during the hearing.

“I’ve been suffering anxiety for ages, but yeah, it’s just getting worse and worse.

“Sometimes it feels like I’m going to pass out and have seizures when I get stressed.”

However, Magistrate Stephen Ballek said while he understood appearing in court was difficult, he agreed with the prosecution that her evidence was extremely important given the seriousness of the charges her son is facing.

“I’ve got to consider the administration of justice, and your evidence can’t be given by other people, and the charge is incredibly serious, involving a homicide related charge,” Ballek said.

“I understand that it’s going to be a difficult process for you to give evidence if your main concern is about your mental health we will do everything we can to accommodate you.”

Under cross-examination, John Torney’s barrister, Hayden Rattray, questioned Belinda Torney about a conversation she had with her son about Bates being asleep soon before her body was found by police.

John Torney allegedly told his mother: “She’s not well. She’s asleep, but not waking up.”

She told the court she then asked her son if Bates was breathing.

“He goes, ‘She’s breathing. She’s not dead yet ... f---ing idiot’. I said to him, ‘Well, maybe get her an ambulance’, and he said he would if she didn’t wake up,” Belinda Torney said.

The court heard she had also told police her son had been “hitting the ice bad” before Bates’ death.

In the days after Emma Bates’ death, hundreds of locals took to the streets.

She told police he was acting erratic and had punched Bates in the head three times in the lead up to her death.

Bates, who had type 1 diabetes, was found dead in her bedroom inside her home in Cobram – 220 kilometres north of Melbourne, near the NSW-Victoria border – on April 23 last year.

She had injuries consistent with being violently assaulted, including bruising and a lump under her left eye, a large gash on the top of her head and cuts on her nose, according to documents previously submitted to the court.

In June this year, the court heard that the hearing had to be delayed because Torney’s brother had allegedly set fire to his family home, where he lived with their mother, days before he was meant to provide evidence in the case against his sibling.

He is alleged to have set fire to the home when police arrived to conduct a welfare check. The mother and son lost all their belongings in the blaze.

Last October, a court hearing was also told that three days before Bates was found dead, Torney’s brother and mother, who lived next door, could hear him arguing with her.

Concerned for Bates’ safety, the brother went to her house, where he found her with a bloodied and swollen lip and Torney yelling at her.

He later alleged to police that his brother had told him he had punched Bates in the face and that Bates had asked him not to leave her alone with Torney.

Torney then allegedly threatened his sibling, telling him he would “chop Bates up” and make him bury “the bits and pieces of her body in the bush”.

On Monday, the court heard evidence from police that Belinda Torney allegedly told investigators: “People say I’m making him out to be a monster ... that’s because he is a monster.”

The hearing was told John Torney’s family was so fearful of him that if he were freed on bail, they intended to go on the run.

Bates’ heartbroken family have remembered her as a loving and kind person who always saw the good in people.

Torney was found not guilty of murdering his former partner’s daughter, two-year-old Nikki Francis Coslovich, in their Mildura home in Victoria’s north-west in 2016.

The toddler’s badly beaten body was discovered in the roof cavity of the house.