Patient Care Report contradicts Premier’s claims their vehicle was ‘T-boned’ by the bike
An Ambulance Victoria report about a crash that almost claimed the life of a teenage cyclist is at odds with the Premier’s claims they came to a “complete stop” before the collision.
Victoria
Don't miss out on the headlines from Victoria. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A bombshell Ambulance Victoria document details how Daniel and Catherine Andrews’ car was “travelling 40 to 60kmh” when it “struck” a teenage cyclist in Blairgowrie, contradicting the Premier’s claims that their vehicle was “T-boned” by the bike.
The “Patient Care Report” – made by paramedics who attended the crash scene and buried for a decade – is at odds with the Andrews’ claims they came to a “complete stop” and “turned right from a stationary position” just “moments” before the collision.
The secret report also states that rider Ryan Meuleman was “struck” by the Andrews’ Ford Territory, driven by Catherine. The couple have repeatedly asserted that a speeding cyclist hit their vehicle “at force” and “absolutely T-boned” it.
The report says: “15YO on bike. Struck on L side by car travelling 40 to 60kmh … PT onto bonnet, then onto windscreen which cracked on impact … thrown on to roadway.
The document has only now been uncovered – a decade after the smash which almost claimed the teen’s life – as part of an escalating legal action.
Ryan has always insisted the Andrews’ car was “speeding” and “seemed to come out of nowhere” when he was struck 17m on from the Melbourne Rd and Ridley St intersection in the Mornington Peninsula town on January 7, 2013.
Barrister Daryl Dealehr, leading the Meuleman case, told the Herald Sun: “The serious injuries to the left side of Ryan’s body and the observations made by the ambulance officers who attended the crash are completely inconsistent with the claims to police made by Mr Andrews and his wife that their vehicle was travelling at a low speed.
“The evidence appears completely at odds with what Daniel and Catherine Andrews have been claiming since the collision.”
The Meulemans have now instructed lawyers to make an application for pre-trial discovery against major law firm Slater & Gordon and the Transport Accident Commission in a bid to uncover further “missing” documents surrounding the contentious crash.
Slater & Gordon, a Labor-aligned firm which represented Ryan after the crash, is refusing to reveal how it came to be engaged in the matter. It has also claimed it does not have to release certain parts of Ryan’s file because they are “privileged”.
Both of Ryan’s parents insist they never engaged the firm.
The Ambulance Victoria documents were not included in files initially handed over by Slater & Gordon before last November’s state election, when the Herald Sun revealed the Meulemans had engaged lawyers to re-examine the incident. Ryan said this week: “The report proves I have been telling the truth about the crash since it happened.”
“My life was destroyed for years and Andrews and his wife lied about the crash and then he gets to be Premier. How is any of that OK?”
In a statement to police signed on February 5, 2013, at Springvale police station – almost a month after the accident – Mr Andrews declared: “We had turned right from a stationary position into Ridley St. Moments after we turned, a cyclist collided heavily with the side of our vehicle … the cyclist was travelling at speed and hit our car at a perfect right angle very heavily.
“I want to make it clear – the cyclist hit our vehicle.”
At a 2017 press conference, the Premier further declared: “He (Ryan) was moving at speed, he absolutely T-boned the car, hit it at such force he was literally inside the car.”
In Catherine Andrews’ sworn statement to police three weeks after the crash, she said: “I turned from Melbourne Rd after coming to a complete stop … just after we turned into Ridley St our car was struck heavily on the front driver’s side by a cyclist who it seems was attempting to cross Ridley St at speed from the bike path.”
Ms Andrews later said the teenager was lucky he was not charged.
After the crash, Ryan secured an $80,000 compensation payout from the TAC, but the family has raised concerns about the process, involving Slater & Gordon, during which he said he was warned he could never comment on the incident.
“I hadn’t seen this report until a week ago. The lawyers never showed it to me. They just told me to agree to the deal and kind of, you know, shut up,” Ryan said. “I was 15 years old, mate. I was a kid. Seriously, I was 15.
“I am pretty blown away to be honest. I just wish I had it to show everyone 10 years ago. It would have changed everything. People would have known that they hit me, not the other way around.”
Ryan suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs, internal bleeding and was left with just 10 per cent of his spleen – spending 11 days in The Royal Children’s Hospital.
Secret police photographs uncovered by the Herald Sun last November revealed the extent of the damage to the front of the Andrews’ family car, prompting calls from a former Victorian crown prosecutor for a case review. Police also failed to use breathalysers at the scene.
Ryan – now 25 – and his family have condemned Mr Andrews, who was then state opposition leader, for leaving the crash scene after calling triple-0.
The Premier has said he needed to take his traumatised children, who were screaming, to their nearby holiday rental home before returning.
Police files uncovered by the Herald Sun last year confirmed Ryan’s claim that he was never formally interviewed by crash investigators, even though a Register of Complaints, Serious Incidents and Discipline report show his father Peter Meuleman had raised concerns three days after the crash that the police probe might be biased.
Neither Mr Andrews nor his wife were formally interviewed until almost a month on from the crash.
Misgivings about why the SUV with a shattered windscreen was permitted to be driven away from the scene have also been raised.
Slater & Gordon is currently chaired by the Premier’s close confidante, James Mackenzie.
On Friday, government Minister Steve Dimopoulos said the matter had been investigated.
“This is over a decade old,” he said.
“The most appropriate authorities have investigated this thoroughly and have made no adverse findings.
“Beyond that, the Premier himself has answered questions on this almost as many times as he’s answered questions on Covid.
“This has been thoroughly examined and I really don’t have any more to say.”
More Coverage
Victoria Police pay deal under a cloud as new dispute flares
A deal to settle Victoria Police’s long-running pay dispute is in doubt with the workplace umpire called in to resolve a new clash.
School wins right to kick out child of painful parents
Parade College in Bundoora has had its decision to kick out a student over the discourteous “tone” of emails sent by his parents upheld in a landmark Supreme Court judgment.