Drug user sent threatening text messages before alleged murder

A Melbourne man had a brief but violent relationship with Maryam Hamka before murdering her and dumping her body in the bush, sending her a series of threatening messages before she died, prosecutors say.

Toby Loughnane is fighting a murder charge in the Supreme Court of Victoria, after instead admitting Ms Hamka's negligent manslaughter – a charge that prosecutors say does not go far enough.

Her lawyer, Daniel Sala, said Tuesday that he would argue that Ms. Hamka died of a drug overdose rather than violence.

He urged the jury to view the evidence dispassionately after hearing the prosecution's allegations that he said likely fueled hatred toward Loughnane.

Prosecutor Kristie Churchill alleged Ms Hamka had a “relatively brief but violent and controlling relationship” with Loughnane before he murdered her at her Brighton home in April 2021.

In the months before Ms Hamka's death, Loughnane physically assaulted her and also sent her messages threatening to harm and kill her, Ms Churchill said.

The messages included: “I will split your skull open”, “I will go to (jail) just to see you dog suffer”, “you are dead” and “wait until I get my hands on your dog”. “, alleged the prosecutor.

Loughnane also chased Ms Hamka in a car in 2021, followed her into her family home and threatened her friends, Ms Churchill said.

The last time her mother saw Ms Hamka was on April 9, 2021, when Loughnane was yelling at her to get in a car before driving off with her alleged killer, the prosecutor said.

Ms Hamka was seen on CCTV at a Brunswick Woolworths the next day before she was last seen alive in a “confrontation” video filmed by Loughnane, in which she was half-naked and he mocked her, a said Mrs. Churchill.

A friend of Loughnane's then saw Ms Hamka dead in the fetal position in the shower at her Brighton home, the prosecutor claimed.

Ms Churchill accused Loughnane of trying to cover up Ms Hamka's murder, alleging he sent her several messages after her death, enlisted the help of a friend to buy a steam cleaner offshore from Gumtree and that he had disposed of her body in dense bush.

Police found a significant number of cleaning products at Loughnane's home days after Ms Hamka's death.

Almost two years later – in May 2023 – they received information from Loughnane's lawyers about the location of Ms Hamka's body, the prosecutor said.

Officers later found Ms Hamka's bones in thick bushland at Cape Schanck, on the Mornington Peninsula.

Mr Sala said the defense would focus on three key pieces of evidence, including Ms Hamka's final video, the observations of Loughnane's friend and the fact that his client and Ms Hamka were heavy drug users.

The jury would hear testimony about the drug GHB, the attorney said.

“This is the world that these two people occupied in April 2021,” Mr. Sala said.

“It can be quite disgusting. It brings out the worst in people.”

The world of drug use played a crucial role in the case and Loughnane accepted responsibility for Ms Hamka's alleged fatal overdose, the lawyer said.

“What you didn't hear (from the prosecution) was anyone saying, 'That's how she died,'” Mr. Sala said.

The trial continues Wednesday.

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