Vic man fatally 'bashed by former tenant'

A man found dead at his Melbourne home was bashed with a baseball bat and steel bar by a disgruntled former tenant and her boyfriend, a court has heard.

Alan Matthews, 69, died at his Noble Park home early on Thursday morning after making an emergency call.

Mr Matthews told the operator that his former tenant Kristy Robb, 26, and her boyfriend attacked him, police told the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Robb, of Hallam, has been charged with intentionally causing serious injury and was denied bail on Friday.

Detective Simon Hunt told the court Robb and her partner went to Mr Matthews' house to collect property which Mr Matthews had kept as collateral for outstanding rent.

Det Hunt said a fight then broke out, and Robb and her boyfriend attacked Mr Matthews with a baseball bat and a steel bar.

Mr Matthews sustained serious head and facial injuries and managed to chase the pair away before calling triple-zero, Det Hunt said.

A 40-year-old Narre Warren man was arrested on Friday afternoon but had not yet been interviewed, Det Hunt said.

Robb made a tearful plea to be released on bail, saying she had found work and had recently been granted custody of her three children.

Det Hunt said the charges against Robb could be upgraded once a report came back from a forensic pathologist.

The case was adjourned for a committal mention on June 6.