An accused killer’s committal hearing has been pushed back after his brother allegedly burnt down the family home.
Prosecutor Matthew Cookson requested a postponement of the hearing due to the unavailability of two crucial witnesses, namely Torney’s brother and mother, who could not provide their testimony.
Torney’s brother had been charged and was in police custody after allegedly setting fire to the family home on Sunday, Cookson said.
Police had attended the property to carry out a welfare check when the man allegedly started the uncontrollable blaze, the prosecutor said.
The home was destroyed and Torney’s mother was left homeless without any of her possessions, Cookson told the court.
The woman was physically OK after being hospitalised but she was not in the headspace to give evidence, the prosecutor said.
Cookson applied to have the committal hearing adjourned, saying it was impossible to finalise the case without hearing from the two witnesses.
Torney’s defense lawyer, Hayden Rattray, pointed out that his client had been detained since April 2024 and suggested that the trial could continue even without the testimonies of these prosecution witnesses.
But magistrate Stephen Ballek described the circumstances as “extreme” and allowed the adjournment given the seriousness of the charges.
Torney was remanded to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court in October for a four-day committal hearing.
It’s alleged he knew Bates, 49, who was found dead inside a Cobram property, near the NSW border, on April 23, 2024.
Police initially charged Torney with 13 offences including intentionally causing injury, several counts of assault and breaching a court order.
An additional charge of negligent manslaughter was laid against Torney in December.
In 2016, Torney was acquitted of murdering a toddler after the two-year-old girl’s beaten body was discovered in the roof cavity of a Mildura house.
