‘The current situation squarely fits within the category of an abuse of process, given the unfairness that arises because of the change of the Crown case at the stage in which it has occurred.’
THE LEGAL BATTLE IS FAR FROM OVER..! – HEAR…
THE LEGAL BATTLE IS FAR FROM OVER..! – HEARTBROKEN FAMILY OF MELBOURNE TEEN ISLA BELL SPEAK OUT AFTER COURT DROPS M-U:RDER CHARGE!
The man once accused of killing Melbourne teen Isla Bell is now challenging what little remains of the prosecution case against him.
Marat Ganiev, 55, was accused of killing Ms Bell, 19, in the early hours of October 7, 2024, before hiding her body in a fridge.
Her remains were found at a rubbish tip in Melbourne’s south-east six weeks later.
Ganiev was originally charged with murder but that was downgraded to manslaughter as the case entered the Supreme Court of Victoria.
That charge was withdrawn just days before he was due to face trial in May, with prosecutors instead charging him with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Like manslaughter, it is a charge that carries a 25-year maximum sentence in Victoria.
On Tuesday, Ganiev’s barrister Sally Flynn KC complained her client’s case ought to be dropped altogether by prosecutors because it was ‘so unfair.’
‘Our position always was the manslaughter case was foredoomed to fail as a matter of law,’ she told Supreme Court of Victoria Justice James Elliott.
+5
View gallery
The man once accused of killing Melbourne teen Isla Bell, 19, (pictured) is now challenging what little remains of the prosecution case against him
‘We sought a permanent stay of the proceedings and instead the indictment was discontinued and an equally serious charge is proceeded with.
‘It’s so unfair as to mean that this court ought to take the extraordinary step of staying the prosecution.’
The application was made as supporters, friends and family of Ms Bell sat watching in the courtroom and later held signs outside court calling for justice.
Ms Flynn branded the Office of Public Prosecutions’ conduct an abuse of process that risked bringing ‘the administration of justice into disrepute’.
The defence application hinges on claims that the prosecution evidence behind the new charge was never actually new.
The court heard Ganiev’s original co-accused, Eyal Yaffe, 59, was also accused of assisting an offender and attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to Ms Bell’s death.
His charges were dropped on the day the prosecution withdrew the manslaughter charge against Ganiev.
Ms Flynn argued that prosecutors already knew the charge was available and chose not to lay it against Ganiev.
+5
View gallery
Marat Ganiev, 55, was accused of killing Isla Bell in the early hours of October 7, 2024
Heartbroken mother reacts as ALL charges are DROPPED over teenage girl whose body was found in a tip
‘The evidence and the law have never changed,’ Ms Flynn told the court.
‘It’s just the prosecution case that has changed.’
Ms Flynn said allowing the Crown to continue changing charges could discourage defence lawyers from identifying fatal flaws early in the prosecution case, for fear of prosecutors altering the charges as a result.
‘The categories of an abuse of process are not closed,’ she said.
‘The current situation squarely fits within the category of an abuse of process, given the unfairness that arises because of the change of the Crown case at the stage in which it has occurred.’
Crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams dismissed the defence claims, arguing a permanent stay was reserved for extreme or exceptional cases.
Mr McWilliams argued reviewing and refining a prosecution case in the lead-up to trial was ‘commonplace and sound’, not sinister, and that nothing stops the Crown bringing a fresh, properly evidenced charge.
‘There’s nothing relevantly unfair about that process being undertaken in this case,’ he said.
Justice Elliott is not expected to hand down his decision for at least another month, with Ganiev facing a jury trial should the matter proceed.
+5
View gallery
Marat Ganiev (pictured) was originally charged with murder, but that was downgraded to manslaughter as the case entered the Supreme Court of Victoria
+5
View gallery
The application was made as supporters, friends and family of Ms Bell sat watching in the courtroom and later held signs outside court calling for justice
