Monday's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.

1. Mother who killed daughter may have been affected by brain aneurysm surgery.

Four weeks ago a mother drugged and murdered her own daughter in their Brisbane apartment before taking her own life.

It was yet another terrible case of family violence that we hear so often these days.

Today there are reports that the murder may have been linked to surgery to repair a brain aneurysm that the mother, Chiaki Pearson underwent three years earlier.

The Courier Mail reports that police are investigating the possible link to the medical condition to understand what triggered the  “loving” mother to murder her 11-year-old daughter Celeste.

As a coronial inquiry gets underway experts will look at whether an aneurysm, or excessive swelling of the wall of an artery, may have caused a change in Ms Pearson’s behaviour.

It has been reported that one month before she murdered her daughter Ms Pearson went to police to allege she had been assaulted five years earlier, police investigated but could not find any thing to back it up. Police have said they are questioning whether that was evidence of her growing inability to cope.

Police say Ms Pearson drugged her two daughters before they went to bed on Monday, December 7, she then murdered Celeste “with multiple weapons” but left her eight-year old daughter alive.

Afterwards, she put her eight-year-old in the car and drove her to the home of a friend before leaping to her death from a crane at a construction site in nearby Toowong.

The girls’ father Chris Pearson, 65, was cleared of any connection to his daughter’s murder and slept through the attack.

The Courier Mail reports that according to experts it is possible for an aneurysm to change a person’s behaviour, depending on its location in the brain and severity.

For help call Lifeline on 13 11 14

2. Three-year-old dies after swimming pool incident while two-year-old fights for his life.

A three-year-old boy has died in hospital when he collapsed shortly after swimming in a backyard pool in Sydney.

The little boy was swimming in the pool but collapsed nearby in the family’s garden moments after he got out. When emergency services were called the home in Riverwood last night they found the boy unconscious.

He was taken to Sydney Children’s Hospital but died a short time later.

In a separate incident a two-year-old is fighting for his life after being pulled from a backyard pool around 6.30pm in Camden, also in NSW.

He was airlifted to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead where he is in a critical condition.

3. Men who rape children jailed for less time than those convicted of raping adults.

Statistics reported by The Age have shown that men who rape children under 12 are less likely to be jailed in Victoria, and are being jailed for less time than those convicted of raping adults.

Victoria’s Sentencing Advisory Council has found that between July 2009 and June 2014, 72 men were convicted in Victoria of sexually penetrating a child younger than 12 (no women were convicted of the same offence in that period). Of those 75 per cent were jailed with a medium term of four years.

14 per cent received a wholly suspended jail sentence, and another 8.4 per cent were handed partially suspended sentences, community-correction orders or community-based orders. Another 2.8 per cent either received youth justice orders or had their charges discharged or dismissed.

The Age reports that by contrast 211 Victorian men convicted of rape of adults between 2009 and 2014 91 per cent were jailed with a median length of five years.

9 per cent were given wholly or partially suspended sentences.

4. Chair to be recalled after three people lost toes.

More than 100,000 dining chairs are set to be recalled by a major furniture retailer, Fantastic Furniture after a series of incidents where people, including children, had part of their toes cut off by sharp metal edges on the legs.

News Limited reports that Fantastic Furniture will recall its popular Worx chair following the latest incident, in which a Queensland boy lost a third of a toe.

It is thought that other retailers, who also sell a similar chair may move to recall their versions of the classic 1934 designed cafe chair called the Xavier Pauchard Tolix.

Fantastic Furniture’s $39 version was responsible for an 11-year old boy from the Gold Coast losing part of a toe, along with a father from Sydney.

Mark Bulman told News Limited he bumped into a Worx and tripped. The middle toe of his left foot got trapped in the inner side one of the legs and, as he fell, the sharp metal edge sliced it off.

The seats were recently withdrawn from sale and won’t return to showrooms until they have been modified.

5. Melissa Abdoo, one-punch victim condition improving.

The women who was the victim of an unprovoked one-punch assault outside a Mount Isa pub is improving in hospital with her condition now listed as stable.

Melissa Abdoo was rushed to Mount Isa Hospital with critical head injuries, including suspected bleeding on the brain, in the early hours of Saturday morning after being allegedly attacked by a 28-year old man who had been refused entry to the pub where he worked.

Mount Isa Police Sergeant Ross Kirkpatrick said Mrs Abdoo had been speaking to another woman, believed to be the man’s wife, when a 28-year-old man allegedly delivered what he described as a “one-strike” attack.

Sergeant Kirkpatrick said “What will be alleged is he’s then stuck out at the manager with a single blow and that’s knocked her to the ground and caused the head injury.”

The man will appear in court today over the attack.

6. Scout leader charged over alleged indecent assault of 14yo girl at Jamboree.

A 63-year-old Scout leader has been charged with the alleged indecent assault of a teenage girl at a national event in Sydney’s south west.

The ABC reports that the 14-year-old girl reported the incident, which happened on Monday afternoon but police were not called until Friday afternoon.

The organisation was holding the Australian Scouts Jamboree at Cataract Scout Park, near Appin in NSW.

The 63-year-old West-Australian man was arrested by police on Saturday and charged with aggravated indecent assault of a child under 16 and was granted bail.

He appeared in court yesterday, was granted bail and is due to appear Campbelltown Local Court on Wednesday.

A statement from Scouts Australia to the ABC said the organisation acknowledged there was a “delay in the incident being reported to NSW Police.”

“This was due to a lack of understanding of Scout protocol and procedures by some leaders,”

“Once the incident came to the attention of the Scout authorities’ onsite at Jamboree the NSW Police were notified immediately.

“Scouts education and training for leaders on child protection will continue nationally.”

For help  24/7, call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). 

7. Minister believes Cologne mass attacks on women were planned.

Germany’s Justice Minister, Heiko Mass has questioned whether the attacks on women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve were organised.

“When such a horde meets to commit crimes, it seems to have been planned in some way. Nobody can tell me that it wasn’t coordinated or pre-prepared,” Maas told the newspaper Bild.

Maas said there was a possibility the attacks were linked and coordinated to attacks in other cities.

“All links must be very carefully examined. The suspicion seems likely that a certain date and the number of people to be expected were selected,” he said.

516 women have now filed complains about sexual assaults on the evening.

In Hamburg 108 complaints were filed, and to a much lesser extent in other European cities.

8. Wild Oats XI owner Bob Oatley dies, aged 87.

Australian winemaker, multi-millionaire owner of Wild Oates XI and Hamilton Island, Bob Oatley has died aged 87.

Mr Oatley‘s maxi yacht Wild Oats XI dominated the Sydney to Hobart since 2005, taking line-honours eight times as well as holding the race record.

He established Rosemount Estates in 1969 selling it and buying Hamilton Island in 2001.

In 2014 Mr Oatley was appointed as an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for ‘his distinguished service to the Australian wine and tourism industries, to the sport of yacht racing, and to the community as a supporter of medical research and visual arts organisations.

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