John Torney, accused of assaulting Emma Bates, refused bail in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court

The Cobram man accused of assaulting a woman to death allegedly said he would “chop her up into bits” to his little brother in the lead up to her death.

The mother of a Cobram man accused of the deadly assault of his neighbour encouraged him to call triple-0 before calling emergency services herself, a court has been told.

John Torney, 40, applied for bail in the Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, after he allegedly assaulted Cobram woman Emma Bates in the lead up to her death.

Mr Torney is accused of attacking Ms Bates multiple times on April 20 this year, while his younger brother tried to protect her.

During the alleged fight, Mr Torney is accused of telling his brother he would “chop” Ms Bates up into little pieces and make his brother clean it up.

Ms Bates handed Mr Torney a bong to calm him down but he threw it across the bedroom before threatening he would break her jaw with a bottle of scotch, the court was told.

Much loved Cobram local Emma Bates was allegedly assaulted by John Torney in the lead up to her death.

According to detective Senior Constable Kim Sneddon, Ms Bates was last seen at the Cobram BWS on the Saturday, where a shop assistant allegedly noticed she had a bruise on her face.

A few days later, on April 23, Mr Torney allegedly rang his mother Belinda and told her Ms Bates was “not well and was not waking up”, the court was told.

The court was told Belinda told him to ring an ambulance, allegedly saying he was “better off being charged with punching rather than with her murder”.

Allegedly concerned her son would not ring for help, Belinda then called emergency services.

Emma Bates was a diehard Melbourne supporter.

During a welfare check that afternoon, Cobram police discovered Ms Bates body with multiple injuries to her face including a large lump and large gash near her eye and a cut lip.

Police are alleging Mr Torney assaulted Ms Bates further in the days between April 20 and April 23.

Mr Torney, who has been in custody for almost six months, was arrested by police outside Betta Electrical at Cobram over the “suspicious death”.

The court heard Mr Torney told police at the time he had a fight with Ms Bates in the lead up to her death.

“I got a bit heavy handed with her, but she was like ‘nah, nah, nah, I won’t charge ya’,” he allegedly said.

Mr Torney, who spent most of Thursday’s court hearing shaking his head, also allegedly told police she was alive the last time he saw her.

“Why is it my responsibility to ring an ambulance for her?” he allegedly said during his police interview.

Defence lawyer Nelson Brown told the court the defence would bring up a self-defence argument, alleging Ms Bates spat on Mr Torney during the alleged assaults.

He also said a witness had seen the pair at the Cobram ‘Top Pub’ the week before her death and they “seemed fine”.

John Torney. Picture: Mark Stewart

The accused was vulnerable due to being Indigenous and had been diagnosed with depression, Mr Brown told the court in arguing for bail.

He said if Mr Torney was found not guilty of the more serious charges he was facing, he would have spent more time in remand than he would likely be sentenced.

“If he was found not guilty, the period he would spend in custody … Nearly a year … Would exceed the sentence he would get,” Mr Brown told the court.

John Torney was denied bail by Magistrate Simon Zebrowski. Picture: Mark Stewart

The accused had been assessed for a Court Integrated Services Program (CISP) — a form of bail support offered by court services — which would offer him access to a mental health support program if he was bailed, the court was told.

The prosecution opposed bail, saying Mr Torney had not engaged in any rehabilitation programs during his time in custody.

He would also only be able to secure one night of crisis accommodation if he was granted bail, and the prosecution worried he would go back to Cobram, the court was told.

Magistrate Simon Zebrowski noted there were “extensive priors of violence”.

Mr Zebrowski said it was a “very thorough bail application” and it was a “very difficult task” in reaching his decision.

He said it was a “particularly nasty threat” Mr Torney allegedly made to his brother about Ms Bates.

The Magistrate said Mr Torney was an unacceptable risk of committing violent offences and refused bail.

Outside court, Ms Bates’ sisters told the Herald Sun they were still grieving her death.

“Our family is still devastated ... We are still grieving and we miss her every single day,” they said.

“Today’s decision by the magistrate to refuse bail provides some peace to our family.”