A man charged with a slew of offences over the death of a vulnerable woman had been released from prison to be supervised in the community after committing similar assault charges two years earlier.
Emma Bates, 49, was found dead inside her Cobram home, close to the NSW border in Victoria’s far north, about 2.15pm on Tuesday, having suffered injuries to her upper-body and face.
John Torney, 39, who lived next door, was charged over Ms Bates’ death on Wednesday night with intentionally cause injury, recklessly cause injury, common assault, aggravated assault of a female and unlawful assault.
However, it is understood there will be no murder charge because forensics were unable to immediately confirm her cause of death, or whether Torney’s alleged assault caused it.
An autopsy could take weeks to establish a cause of death, if at all.
Now it can be revealed that Torney had been serving a Community Supervisions Order over assault offences committed in Robinvale, four hours north-west of Cobram, in 2022.
John Torney (pictured), 39, has been charged with a range of assault offences over the death of 49-year-old Emma Bates
Ms Bates (pictured) was found dead inside her Cobram home, close to the NSW border in Victoria’s far north, about 2.15pm on Tuesday, having suffered injuries to her upper-body and face
Corrections Victoria declined to comment.
Torney, who has also spent much of his life in Mildura, had planned to move away from the Sunraysia region in northwestern Victoria for a ‘fresh start’ and had relocated to Cobram to live with his mother and two brothers in the house next to Ms Bates.
But Ms Bates’ family said that with his move ‘Mildura’s problem became Cobram’s problem’.
‘Emma detailed so many problems over this time,’ Ms Bates’ sister, Rachel, told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Frequent fights, drug activity, police, the house repeatedly smashed up and the government coming in and patching it up.
‘Emma actually received an anonymous letter warning her of John’s history when he moved in. She hated the man.’
Torney had been serving a Community Supervisions Order over assault offences committed in Robinvale, four hours north-west of Cobram, in 2022 (he is pictured outside the Mildura Magistrates Court, in Mildura, 2016)
Torney had relocated to Cobram to live with his mother and brother in the house next to Ms Bates (pictured: Ms Bates’ house)
Daily Mail Australia approached one of Torney’s brothers for comment on Thursday but he hurled a can at the fence.
Ms Bates’ family said they could not fathom how police were not bringing any more serious charges.
‘We don’t understand,’ Rachel said.
‘It seems the coroner may believe her diabetes played a part in her death.
‘Regardless I still don’t understand… how it’s not manslaughter. Regardless of if a pre-existing condition contributed, his (alleged) actions led to her decline.’
Victoria Police declined to comment.
Rachel said she had been unable to speak to her sister ‘for a few weeks’.
‘Which this wasn’t normal and siblings who had managed to get through were rushed off and an unknown male was always in the background,’ she said.
‘We had shared messages and photos in that time. A silly cat picture always brightened her day.’
Police had earlier said Ms Bates and Torney were known to one another and it had been widely reported they were in a relationship.
Ms Bates’ (pictured) sister Rachel said she had the ‘biggest heart of anyone we know’
Ms Bates was described in loving terms as the ‘crazy cat lady aunt’ to 17 nieces and nephews (pictured: the door to her home)
But Ms Bates’ family confirmed that she and Torney had only known each other for weeks, not months, and revealed the 49-year-old ‘hated’ him.
‘Emma was aware of what type of person John was. She hated him,’ Rachel said.
‘Somehow we don’t know how he managed to get in her life.
‘Emma lived to help the disadvantaged and misunderstood. She had the biggest heart of anyone I know. This connection with John was weeks long. Not months or years.’
Rachel paid tribute to her sister, saying she did not let her lifelong health challenges get in the way of helping others in the Cobram community.
‘She was a type one diabetic, this caused many health complications, she was frequently hospitalised. She used her mobility scooter to travel around,’ Rachel said.
‘Despite all her health challenges, she had the biggest heart of anyone we know. She was always helping someone.
Ms Bates used a mobility scooter to get around because of health complications associated with her type one diabetes (pictured: police scour the property)
‘Dropping in food for an elderly neighbour. Giving lifts to people who needed it. The list goes on.’
Ms Bates’ family had been in Melbourne supporting her father who was receiving medical treatment.
‘When he returned to Cobram it was to a crime scene at his daughter’s house. We initially thought she’d had a medical event,’ Rachel said.
‘When the police informed us she was (allegedly) assaulted and left to die it has shattered our world. A beautiful caring woman’s life just gone. Nothing makes sense.’
Rachel, who did not want to provide her surname to protect her parents’ privacy, described her sister in loving terms as the ‘crazy cat lady aunt’.
‘She had her rescues that she treated like her babies. Her home decor was all cat inspired,’ she said.
‘Emma wasn’t blessed with children but was a proud aunty to her 17 nieces and nephews.
‘They were her pride and joy and she would spend hours talking about them to everyone. She had many of their faces tattooed to her leg so she could carry them with her always.
Locals laid floral tributes outside Ms Bates’ home on Anzac Day
‘It’s tragic that her big heart has led her to a friendship with a man who (allegedly) wished her harm. No one deserves that.’
Twenty-five women have previously been killed in Australia this year as the nation grapples with an epidemic of violence against women and girls.
Torney faced an out of sessions court hearing on Thursday evening.
He will appear before Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
A team of detectives and forensic officers were seen scouring Ms Bates’ home for evidence and speaking to neighbours on Wednesday as part of the investigation.
As police trailed in and out of the front door, a wheelchair, a cat scratching post tower, and an exercise bike could be seen sitting abandoned in Ms Bates’ undercover car park.
Friend Kylie Mizzi, whose parents lived next door to Ms Bates for many years, told Daily Mail Australia she was a ‘beautiful soul’.
‘She always helped my elderly parents and had a huge heart, was warm and loving,’ she said.
‘I’m in total shock that something like this could happen to such a beautiful soul.’
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk