Daniel Andrews given pre-Christmas deadline to file defence in ‘bike boy’ case
Daniel Andrews has less than three weeks to file his defence in the latest in a string of legal actions over a crash that left a 15-year-old cyclist seriously injured.
Daniel Andrews has been given a pre-Christmas deadline to argue his defence in the latest court action over his infamous “bike boy” incident.
The former premier and his wife Catherine are being sued by cyclist Ryan Meuleman with whom they collided in an incident at Blairgowrie on the Mornington Peninsula in 2013.
Ongoing speculation over the circumstances leading to the crash, which left the then 15-year-old Meuleman seriously injured, has sparked several legal fights and investigations.
In the latest, Mr Meueleman has launched defamation action against Mr Andrews and his wife in the Federal Court.
The court this week gave Mr Andrews until December 19 to file his defence, with Mr Meuleman given until February 6 to respond those arguments.
A case management hearing has been listed for February 11, during which a timetable for how the case is set to proceed would likely be set out.
If the matter is not privately settled and proceeds to trial, it is expected Mr Andrews would be called before the court to testify on oath about the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Mrs Andrews was behind the wheel when the family’s SUV collided with Mr Meuleman, then 15, while Mr Andrews — who was then opposition leader — and their three kids were in the car.
Photographs revealed by the Herald Sun in 2022 show extensive damage to the front of Andrews’ car and its windscreen.
An Ambulance Victoria report detailed how the SUV “struck” Ryan while “travelling at 40 to 60km/h”.
The high-profile incident, which has already been investigated as part of an anti-corruption probe, has long haunted the couple who have always denied any wrongdoing.
They have maintained that their Ford Territory was “T-boned” by the bike, while Mr Meuleman insists that the car was “speeding” and “seemed to come out of nowhere”.
In January, the Herald Sun revealed that the Meuleman’s were planning on launching federal court action against the Andrews.
Last year, a probe by former Assistant Commissioner for Traffic and Operations Dr Raymond Shuey found that the Andrews’ Ford Territory was “travelling at speed” and on the wrong side of the road when the crash occurred, and that Victoria Police had engaged in “an overt cover-up to avoid implicating a political figure in a life-threatening” incident.
