1. A Victorian couple had $10,000 stolen from their wishing well when an unknown man crashed their wedding ceremony.
When Victorian couple Breanna and Danny tied the knot in front of their closest friends and family on Saturday, they had no idea that one guest was not who he seemed.
According to 9 News, the pair, who married at the Jack Rabbit Vineyard on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, didn’t realise until their night was nearly over that a man pretending to be a wedding guest had stolen almost $10,000 from their wishing well.
“[The thief] was as cool as a cucumber, he walked in and even chatted to a couple of the guests,” Jack Rabbit Vineyard venue owner Lyndsay Sharp told 9 News.
“It’s just devastating… there are people out there trying to ruin what is supposed to be a happy, special day.”
The man, dressed in a white shirt, suit pants and suspenders, arrived at the ceremony in a white ute. CCTV from the night shows him using a tool to break the lock on the wishing well, before he helps himself to a number of cards containing cash donated by the couple’s guests.
Police believe the man may have been attending a wedding at a venue nearby.
“It was like a scene out of Wedding Crashers,” Senior Constable Bradley Johnson told 9 News.
“It was pretty brazen… I think alcohol gave him the confidence to do it.
“We’re pretty confident he went to the wrong reception, realised he was at the wrong one and thought ‘while I’m here I might as well take some cash’.”
But newlyweds Breanna and Danny haven’t let the man’s actions ruin their wedding: they are currently honeymooning in Fiji as police continue their investigations.
2. A woman has been charged with murder after her 8-year-old son was found dead.
A 41-year-old woman has been charged with one count of murder following the death of an eight-year-old boy on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.
Nine News has confirmed the woman charged is the boy's mother, and police are investigating suffocation as the possible cause of death.
The boy was found inside the home he shared with his mother and another man - who's reportedly not a suspect - in Tootgarook, Victoria. Emergency services were called to the place around 1:30pm on Thursday, where the boy's body was discovered.
"He was always a happy child," a neighbour told Nine News, adding the boy was often seen playing on the trampoline in the front yard.
"We'd wave hello as we were collecting the bins. They'd always say hello back."
The woman has been remanded to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday morning.
A closed out-of-sessions hearing was held on Thursday evening.
3. Nearly half of all women are worried having a baby could jeopardise their career.
Nearly half of all working, professional women are wary of starting a family, fearing it will damage their career progression, The Herald Sun reports.
The Time to Talk study from global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 42 per cent of women feared getting pregnant would impact their career, while 48 per cent felt they had been overlooked for a promotion after returning to work after having a baby.
Another 38 per cent said that even if their employers offered work-life balance or flexible work conditions, they feared being looked up on negatively if they accessed them.
The global study saw 247 Australian women at the manager level or above interviewed, with nearly a third reporting they had experienced inappropriate sexual behaviour or harassment in the workplace.
"Despite more awareness about flexible work leading to significant productivity gains, we have not shifted work culture to enable the benefits to be realised," PwC Australia's chief of diversity and inclusion, former Army gender adviser Julie McKay, told The Herald Sun.
"The findings of our survey around sexual innuendo and harassment experienced by women at work adds to a growing body of data that shows we've got a long way to go before all women feel respected, safe and empowered to fulfil their career potential."
4. Just a day before his funeral, Matthew Leveson's memorial was destroyed by cruel vandals.
After a decade-long fight, the family of Matthew Leveson finally have the chance to bury their son, only to find his memorial site vandalised on the eve of his funeral.
"The night before Matty’s funeral we visited his memorial tree in the National Park to find it vandalised," the 20-year-old's father, Mark Leveson, posted to social media yesterday, alongside a picture of the bare tree.
"Butterflies taken, gifts taken, memorial plaques taken, fresh flowers taken. Nothing is left!"
Matthew's mother, Faye Leveson also commented, saying: "My heart is broken. How could someone do this on the eve of Matt’s funeral?"
If you've been looking for an excuse to adopt a new fur baby, this is it. A cat shelter in Perth is overflowing with abandoned kittens and concerned staff are begging for your help.
"We are at crisis point and will not be able to continue to receive cats and kittens who need our help if we cannot find homes for our lovely cats," the shelter posted to Instagram this week.
Cat Haven at Shenton Park received 80 surrendered cats on Wednesday alone, Nine News reports, with welfare officer Katrina Sand saying: "We have a capacity of 250 cats and at the moment we have 380."
Financial hardship, owners moving cities, and unexpected (and unwanted) litters are the top reasons for people leaving their feline friends at the shelter.
"Now is the time to add to your fur family. We are absolutely desperate," the shelter is pleading.
Who could resist?