Melbourne shonk William ‘Will’ Cheesman posed as phony celebrant, ruined weddings: Court

A Melbourne shonk who posed as a fake celebrant to perform bogus weddings ruined the special days of various couples.

William 'Will' Cheesman pleaded guilty impersonation of a public official after married multiple couples while posing as a phony Melbourne celebrant. Facebook.

A Melbourne shonk who posed as a phony celebrant to perform bogus marriage ceremonies has left multiple victims reeling in the trail of wedding day disasters.

William ‘Will’ Cheesman, 31, pleaded guilty at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday to charges including impersonation of a public official.

Cheesman posed as a phony marriage celebrant and duped five couples who coughed up between $700-$1000 to secure the shonk’s “services”.

Cheesman, who also pleaded guilty to solemnisation of a marriage by an unauthorised person charges, conducted his bogus weddings between February and July last year.

Cheesman offered his services months in advance and even helped the clueless couples plan their cherished events, prepare wedding vows and arrange ceremony seating.

Multiple couples who made “repeated requests” for Cheesman to hand over their official marriage documentation were stonewalled with dicey excuses for months.

Cheesman eventually confessed to his victims several months after their weddings that he had “simply been too embarrassed to admit he had been deregistered as a celebrant”.

Cheesman also told victims he had “forgotten to pay his celebrant registration fee”.

Cheesman duped multiple Melbourne couples.

The court heard Cheesman, who had never been a marriage celebrant, had various opportunities to complete training and registration but failed to do so.

Australian Federal Police arrested and charged Cheesman on February 19 this year.

Cheesman told police he was not a registered celebrant and he knew his conduct was “wrong”.

However, Cheesman claimed he didn’t know his racket was a “criminal offence”.

Cheesman also admitted he prepared “forms” for the weddings but didn’t “file them” because he “knew he could not do so”.

Cheesman also told investigators “he did not believe the couples would be validly married” and he “had not thought about the (his victims) legal and financial consequences”.

A victim said, in her impact statement read to the court, she and her partner were “extremely disappointed” and “angered” by Cheesman’s actions.

“He caused emotional distress between us as a couple (and) our families and friends … it was extremely embarrassing …,” she said

“Our wedding day was forever tainted by his actions and we’ll never get that back …

“Our relationship (between my partner and me) was also strained during this time … not knowing if we were even married, it caused fights between us …

“Our entire (wedding) day was a waste of money … something that we had been saving for, something that cost over $30,000 was ruined as a result of William’s services being invalid …

“We then had to proceed with a second ceremony, costing us more money … not only was I betrayed by a celebrant, I was betrayed by a friend, William being in our photos is a constant reminder of what (he) did to us and it’s something that can never be replaced …”

Cheesman lied to friends who believed he was a Melbourne marriage celebrant.

Cheesman, who represented himself, told the court he apologised and repaid his victims.

“I feel terrible that I’ve been dishonest to my friends,” Cheesman said.

The court heard Cheesman, who is employed in traffic management, was head coach of Oak Park Football Club senior thirds.

“It takes up a lot of my time and I love (footy coaching) as a passion of mine,” Cheesman said.

Cheesman, who finished year 12 and previously worked in sales, also told the court he no longer wanted to be a marriage celebrant.

The prosecution submitted the offending was “persistent in nature” and “involved ongoing protracted dishonesty”.

“There were multiple opportunities for (Cheesman) to withdraw from the offending,” the prosecution submitted …

“It continued to escalate and the offender continued to deceive an increasing number of victims — some of which were close friends … it’s a breach of trust …

“He continued to request money … it can be inferred the offending was committed for personal gain …

“There was also a degree of sophistication to the offending … it required significant forethought (over months) …”

Magistrate Malcolm Thomas said Cheesman committed a “serious breach of trust”.

“It should’ve been the perfect day (for the victims) but it wasn’t …,” Magistrate Thomas said.

“I take into account the impact on the victims (and) the potential legal consequences in relation to the children if the matter hadn’t come to light and the financial consequences of their status of being not properly married …”

Cheesman was convicted and placed on a six-month community correction order.

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