Man charged in Melbourne woman's death fails to halt legal proceedings

A man charged in connection to the death of Melbourne woman Isla Bell has failed to have his case thrown out.

Ms Bell's remains were discovered at a tip in November 2024, about six weeks after she was last seen alive at the house of St Kilda East man Marat Ganiev, 55.

Mr Ganiev was initially charged with the 19-year-old's murder, but the prosecution later downgraded the charge to manslaughter.

Shortly before going to trial in May this year, the prosecution discontinued the manslaughter charge, and filed a new indictment of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Following this, Mr Ganiev applied for a permanent stay on his case, with his barrister Sally Flynn KC arguing the changes to the prosecution case were an abuse of process.

Today, however, Justice James Elliott disagreed with the defence, saying the prosecution was entitled to pursue a fresh charge on a different aspect of the case.

He said the changes in the prosecution case "can't be characterised as an abuse of process".

"I'm not aware of any decision that would support a permanent stay being granted in this case," he said.

Justice Elliott said the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice related to Mr Ganiev's alleged actions after Ms Bell's death, while the previous murder and manslaughter charges related to claims that he caused he unlawfully caused her death.

There was no "overlap" in the facts before the court, he said.

After the hearing, Ms Bell's mother Justine Spokes looked distraught and spoke very briefly to media before walking away.

Mr Ganiev will face trial at a later date.

Cause of death 'unascertained'

Justice Elliott's ruling today included fresh details about Mr Ganiev's use of the synthetic opioid methadone on 6 October 2024 — the same date Ms Bell was last seen.

He said the accused attended a pharmacy and took a dose of methadone while he was there, a drug he'd been prescribed for years, then took six doses home.

The court heard Ms Bell didn't have a methadone prescription but a bottle of it was seen in a photo she sent to a friend, and a toxicology report later showed methadone in her system.

Justice Elliott summarised previous evidence from forensic pathologist Hans de Boer that he'd found Ms Bell's cause of death was "unascertained".

This was due to the damage and decomposition of her body when it was found, making forensic analysis difficult.

Blood taken from the spleen showed a variety of substances including methylamphetamine, MDMA, cocaine, cannabis and methadone but there were limits to the diagnoses, the court heard.

Defence's attempt to get case shut down

A permanent stay of proceedings effectively shuts a case down and is rarely granted by courts.

On July 14, Mr Ganiev's defence submitted an application for a permanent stay of the remaining charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Defence barrister Sally Flynn KC argued that an "abuse of process" had occurred, because prosecutors had brought the latest charge soon after abandoning the manslaughter case, which she claimed was "foredoomed to fail" at a trial.

"The evidence and the law have never changed, it's just the prosecution case that has changed," she said.

However, the prosecution rejected any suggestion of an abuse of process, saying the discontinuation of the manslaughter charge against Mr Ganiev was for "reasons that are solely with the Director [of Public Prosecutions]".

"It is different offending arising from different evidence," Crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams said.

He said there was no connection between dropping the manslaughter charge and bringing the attempt to pervert the course of justice charge.

Attempting to pervert the course of justice carries a maximum sentence of 25 years imprisonment.

"The matter was separately considered and a decision was taken," Mr McWilliams said.