Police ‘incorrectly’ binned manslaughter case evidence

The judge heard police mistakenly destroyed evidence in the negligent manslaughter case, including the defendant’s mobile phone.

Emma Bates, 49, was found dead at her home in Cobram, near the NSW-Victoria border, on April 23, 2024.

His neighbor, John Torney, 40, faces charges of negligent homicide and other charges, which he denies.

Torney’s mother previously told a hearing in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court that the pair had been in a relationship for about two weeks and had argued before Ms Bates’ death.

On Thursday, it was revealed that Torney’s belongings seized during his arrest – including his phone and watch – were “wrongly disposed of” by an officer at Cobram police station.

Detective Senior Constable Kim Sneddon said the evidence in court was labeled as usual but one of his colleagues mistakenly thought it was rubbish and threw it away.

He said the station’s bins had already been taken to the landfill when the mistake was discovered.

“This phone was destroyed before it could be analyzed,” the officer said.

“By the time I got to him he was already crushed.”

Det Sen Const Sneddon said Torney was the only police suspect in the case.

Coroner Jason Schreiber previously told the court Ms Bates had methamphetamine in her system and her diabetes was “not well controlled” when she died.

He said a large gash on the top of his head, a cut on his nose and a bruise under his eye could not be attributed to a single fall.

On Thursday forensic pathologist Michael Bourke said Ms Bates “certainly” died from a serious condition involving high sugar levels.

“He died of diabetic ketoacidosis,” Dr Bourke told the court.

He said anyone in this state needs treatment as soon as possible, but he can’t say how quickly, which he describes as “how much is a piece of rope?” He likened it to a rhetorical question.

“This woman suffered from diabetic ketoacidosis and if left untreated she would die,” Dr Bourke told the court.

He said medical evidence showed Ms Bates had suffered a head injury 48 hours before her death, but he could not establish with certainty that this had caused brain damage.

“Any of these could have caused brain damage, anything that causes the brain to spin,” he said.

Such injuries may or may not cause a person to lose consciousness, he said.

Homicide Detective Chief Constable Lee Horsley said his specialist team did not continue investigating the case after Ms Bates’ autopsy.

“We had no direct connection to homicide as a cause of death,” he said.

Prosecutor Matthew Cookson claimed Torney had taken care of Miss Bates.

But Torney’s lawyer, Hayden Rattray, disagreed and asked for an explanation of how they claimed his client had undertaken the task voluntarily.

The hearing will continue in November for final statements.