An argument over a car crash involving a teenage boy and Dan Andrews is headed to court after mediation talks collapsed with a leading law firm dragged into the dispute.
Ryan Meuleman, 15, was knocked from his bike on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula in January 2013 and left with life threatening injuries after an accident with an SUV containing Mr Andrews, his wife Catherine and their family.
Slater & Gordon represented the family in getting compensation from Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission, but the Meulemans claim they never contacted the law firm and were landed with their services.
Ryan’s father, Peter Meuleman, said he could not discuss what transpired in mediation, but Slater & Gordon had never explained how they became involved when the accident was still not public knowledge.
‘Why did a Labor-aligned law firm suddenly turn up out of nowhere and want to act for my son?’ Mr Meuleman told the Herald Sun.
‘I didn’t reach out to them and my ex-wife didn’t reach out to them. We both thought the other parent had signed up with them.
‘But the fact is, they just turned up and acted like they were in charge. How did they get my mobile number? How did they get my name?’
Mr Meuleman claims Slater & Gordon did everything they could to keep the crash out of the media and negotiated the deal in secret because they appeared to be more worried about Mr Andrews than Ryan.
Peter Meuleman’s son Ryan was involved in horrific car crash with former Victorian premier Dan Andrews in January 2013 (pictured, Peter Meuleman)
The Meuleman family have accused Slater & Gordon, where former Labor prime minister Julia Gillard once worked, of failing to conduct ‘a full and proper investigation into the circumstances’ of the collision and not acting in Ryan’s best interests.
Following the accident, Ryan had to have five times the volume of his blood transfused to save his life and lost 90 per cent of his spleen.
Out of the $100,000 compensation settlement, Slater & Gordon took $20,000 as fees.
Slater & Gordon denies the Meuleman family’s claims and said they will will defend the proceedings scheduled for a Supreme Court hearing in May.
Mr Andrews and Catherine insist they came to a full stop on Melbourne Road before turning right at a slow when Ryan ‘travelling at speed’ T-boned them at a ‘perfect right angle’ on Ridley Street in Blairgowrie.
Former Victorian Police assistant commissioner Raymond Shuey, a world-renowned road safety expert, called this account ‘improbable and implausible’.
He also said the investigation by two police was so deficient it appeared to be ‘an overt cover-up to avoid implicating a political figure in a life-threatening crash’.
‘It was definitely not a slow speed crash, as the prime factor was vehicle speed,’ Dr Shuey wrote after marshalling evidence from case documents, witness testimonies and visiting the scene to do crash reconstruction.
Dan (pictured left) and Catherine (pictured right) Andrews have insisted they did nothing wrong
Following the accident Ryan had to have five times the volume of his blood transfused to save his life and lost 90 per cent of his spleen
He concluded Mr Andrews’ vehicle most likely made ‘a sweep turn at speed, cutting the corner and (was) still on the incorrect side of the roadway in Ridley Street, 27m from Melbourne Road when the collision occurred’.
Victoria Police have refused to reopen the case or answer specific questions arising out of the report Dr Shuey prepared at the behest of Meuleman family lawyers.
‘As has been previously stated, Victoria Police conducted a thorough investigation into this matter, as did (Victorian corruption watchdog) IBAC, and all findings were consistent,’ a police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We have no further comment to provide on the matter.’
The Andrews family have slammed Dr Shuey’s review labelling it ‘appalling conspiracy theories’.
