A man accused of assaulting a woman and then failing to seek medical help while she lay dying has stormed out of a virtual court hearing after being ordered by a Melbourne magistrate to stand trial for his role in her death.

John Torney, 40, has been charged with negligent manslaughter over the death of 49-year-old Emma Bates, with whom he was living.

On Wednesday, Magistrate Stephen Ballek said Torney had left Bates alone in an obviously “debilitated and highly vulnerable state” after violently assaulting her the previous night and with the knowledge she was also frail and chronically ill with diabetes.

Emma Bates was found dead in her home in Cobram, in Victoria’s north, in April last year.

Torney, who appeared via video link from prison, put his head in his hands as the magistrate m

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