A GROUP of reckless pranksters have faced a fierce backlash from residents and beach users after performing a dangerous stunt involving glass at Mothers Beach in Mornington.
The males involved, believed to be youths and YouTube attention-seekers, reportedly placed several glass picture frames beneath the surface of the sand about 2pm on 21 January while the beach was packed on a hot day. The News understands about five of the picture frames, which bizarrely depicted American rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, were buried at various spots along the beach near Schnapper Point with water bottles placed on top of each one in what appeared to act as “markers” before the group walked away.
A group of girls are believed to have come across one of the picture frames which was broken into shards of glass. Staff at the Mornington Boat Hire were alerted and found some of the frames buried in the sand and immediately called police.
According to a social media post, a witness said the youths had told police they were filming a YouTube video by putting the glass frames beneath the sand “then grabbing it soon after”. But the witness said there was “definitely no one watching or nearby the ones planted near us”, noting the beach was busy and that someone could have easily “cut their foot or entire leg open”.
Victoria Police said officers spoke to the males at the scene but determined “no offence was detected”.
“A few males had buried a whole picture frame with a water bottle as a marker on top, to film themselves locating it with a metal detector,” a police spokeswoman said.
But locals were quick to express their outrage, with many pointing to the potential dangers. “They need to be called out. It’s not ok, it won’t be accepted on our beaches, and locals won’t stand for it,” Melanie Bird, a Mornington resident and regular beach cleaning volunteer, said. “I simply can’t fathom the mindset of those who would commit such an act.”
The Mornington Peninsula Shire quickly deployed their beach cleaning team to the area, while Bird said she and others also did a “triple check” the following morning at the beach “and didn’t find anything out of the ordinary”.
The News was told that picture frames and broken glass were also found at Mt Martha beach in the evening, just hours after the first incident, but it cannot be confirmed whether the same group was involved.
Mornington Boat Hire owner and the shire’s deputy mayor Paul Pingiaro said the safety of the community and visitors was a top priority, “which makes it deeply disappointing that this reckless behaviour took place” “With so many families enjoying the beach at the time, we are incredibly fortunate that no one was injured by the buried glass objects,” he said. “I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the vigilant members of the public who promptly alerted my staff, allowing us to address the situation swiftly and effectively.” Pingiaro also thanked the shire for their rapid deployment of a beach clean-up team and Victoria Police’s prompt response.
First published in the Mornington News – 28 January 2025
