A disagreement over a car crash involving a teenage cyclist and Daniel Andrews is headed to court after mediation talks collapsed, with one of the country’s leading law firms involved in the dispute.
Ryan Meuleman, 15, was knocked off his bike on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula in January 2013 and left with life-threatening injuries after an accident with a van carrying Andrews, his wife Catherine and their family.
Slater & Gordon represented the family in seeking compensation from the Victorian Transport Accident Commission, but the Meulemans claim they never sought the law firm’s services but received them anyway.
Ryan’s father, Peter Meuleman, said he could not discuss what happened in mediation, but Slater & Gordon never explained how they became involved when the accident was not yet public knowledge.
‘Why did a Labour-aligned law firm suddenly appear out of nowhere and want to act on my son’s behalf?’ Mr. Meuleman told the Herald of the sun.
‘I didn’t approach them and my ex-wife didn’t approach them. We both thought the other parent had registered with them.
But the fact is that they showed up and acted like they were in charge. How did they get my mobile number? How did they get my name?
Meuleman claims that Slater & Gordon did everything they could to keep the accident out of the media and negotiated the settlement in secret because they seemed to be more concerned about Andrews than Ryan.
Peter Meuleman’s son Ryan was involved in a horrific car accident with former Victorian Premier Dan Andrews in January 2013 (pictured, Peter Meuleman)
The Meuleman family has accused Slater & Gordon, where former Labor prime minister Julia Gillard once worked, of failing to carry out “a full and proper investigation into the circumstances” of the collision and of failing to act in Ryan’s best interests. .
After the accident, Ryan had to receive a blood transfusion five times as much to save his life and lost 90 percent of his spleen.
outside the $100,000 compensation agreement, Slater & Gordon collected $20,000 in fees.
Slater & Gordon denies the Meuleman family’s claims and said they will defend the proceedings scheduled for a Supreme Court hearing in May.
Andrews and Catherine insist they came to a complete stop on Melbourne Road before turning right when Ryan, “travelling at speed”, collided with them at a “perfect right angle” on Ridley Street in Blairgowrie.
Former Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Raymond Shuey, a respected road safety expert, called the Andrews family’s account “improbable and implausible.”
He also said the investigation by two police officers was so flawed that it appeared to be “a blatant cover-up to avoid implicating a political figure in a life-threatening accident.”
“This was definitely not a low-speed accident, as the primary factor was the speed of the vehicle,” Dr. Shuey wrote after gathering evidence from case documents, witness testimony, and visiting the scene to reconstruct the accident.
Dan (pictured left) and Catherine (pictured right) Andrews have insisted they did nothing wrong.
After the accident, Ryan had to receive a blood transfusion five times as much to save his life and lost 90 percent of his spleen.
He concluded Mr Andrews’ vehicle probably made “a wide turn at speed, rounding the corner and (was) still on the wrong side of the road on Ridley Street, 27 meters from Melbourne Road when the collision occurred”.
Victoria Police has refused to reopen the case or answer specific questions arising from the report Dr Shuey prepared at the behest of the Meuleman family’s lawyers.
“As previously stated, Victoria Police carried out a thorough investigation into this matter, as did (Victoria’s corruption watchdog) IBAC, and all findings were consistent,” a spokesperson for the police said. police told Daily Mail Australia.
“We have no further comment to make on this matter.”
The Andrews family has criticized Dr Shuey’s review as “appalling conspiracy theories”.